Alpha Squads
by IceyLink
Summary: A new Department H and James Hudson each form their own super hero team to protect Canada. Series Completed.
1. Team Roster

**Alpha Squads**

**Disclaimer:**

These issues are a work of fiction based partly on characters owned by Marvel Entertainment Ltd. These stories are not to be used for commercial gain, and are purely for entertainment purposes only.

Department H has been taken over by two mysterious characters in an attempt to reorganize the agency. The new agenda is to create an organization that will regulate and train the mutants and heroes of Canada. To do this Department H has reformed Alpha Flight as a symbol and to lead the protectors of Canada. Not trusting Department H and its hidden agendas, James Hudson the original Guardian, has formed his own Team Alpha to protect Canada from Department H. Can Canada survive the clash of the Alpha Squads?

Cast:

Department H/Alpha Flight  
Director X - head of the new Department H  
Madam Q - co-head of the new Department H  
Vindicator aka Heather Hudson - leader of Alpha Flight and liaison between Dept H & the teams  
Guardian aka James Macdonald Clone - co-leader of Alpha Flight and trainer for Z Flight  
Puck aka Eugene Judd - member of Alpha Flight and trainer for Omega Flight  
Northstar aka Jean-Paul Beaubier - member of Alpha Flight and trainer for Z Flight  
Aurora aka Jeanie-Marie - member of Alpha Flight and trainer for Beta Flight  
Earthmover aka Chuck Moss - member of Alpha Flight and trainer for Gamma Flight  
Diamond Lil aka Lillian Crawley - member of Alpha Flight and trainer for Beta Flight  
Feedback aka Albert Louis - leader of Epsilon Flight  
Doc Brown - Department H's Head Doctor  
Beatrice deLaSalle - Headmistress of Gamma Flight

Team Alpha  
Protector aka James Hudson   
Snowbird aka Narya Easton  
Rebound aka Zuzha Yu  
Silver aka shared body of Jimon Kwon and Hedison

Switch

Commander aka Kara Killgrave


	2. Starting Over Part One

**Alpha Squads**

**Issue #1 – Starting Over – Part One**

**Department H – Canada**

As the taxi pulled away, a beautiful woman still in her prime pushed the hair out of her eyes and shielding them from the sun as she glanced up. It had been a long time since she had been here and she thought she would have never set foot in here again. She wouldn't have, but the rumors of a whole new Department H and the mysterious invitation she received compelled her curiosity. With everything Department H had been responsible for, she had to come and investigate. She took a deep breath and then moved toward the giant office building.

"Heather! I don't believe it. What are you doing here?"

Heather turned to see a short midget of a man walking up to her.

"Hi Eugene. I guess I wasn't the only one invited here," Heather asked.

"Yeah, I received an invitation for this meeting too. I wasn't sure who all got one or what this is about, but for curiosity's sake I had to come," the man also known as Puck said.

"I almost didn't come. I figured since it said to come out of costume and alone I thought it might be a trap. I had heard rumors that Department H had been reorganized and under new management so I had to come, but I came prepared," Heather said winking as she pulled down her blouse slightly revealing the green of her Vindicator costume.

With a chuckle they both headed up to the front doors. The giant office building looked the same but yet looked different. It had been so long that they could not tell what was old and what was new. As they reached the front doors and Eugene opened the glass door for Heather a brief alarm went off and they found themselves surrounded by guards in high-tech armor. Just as heather was about to power up her suit a familiar voice called out to her.

"Heather, there is no need for that. One of the reasons the invites said to come out of costume was to avoid the new security measures. Alright men, you can move along, these two have clearance," the man in bright green tech-armor waved at the quickly diminishing guards.

"Feedback? Albert? Is that you?" Eugene asked squinting his eyes.

"Wow, you remember me. Yeah, I was offered a job here and it's great. I am in charge of security. You two are the last to arrive and they are waiting so you better hurry. Take the elevator up to the top. Oh and Heather, you should be fine as long as you don't power that thing up," Albert smiled as he ushered them to the elevator and then left.

"The last to arrive? I wonder who's all here?" Heather asked as she hit the highest number on the pad-"13".

"I don't know but we are about to find out," Puck answered as the elevator door opened and they stepped out into a small lobby.

In the center of the room was a lady at a desk. She waved them on to enter the door behind her. As the two of them quickly passed through the door they came face to face with a very large oval table with a bunch of people sitting around it. Heather couldn't believe it. Was all of Alpha Flight here? She quickly looked at the civilian faces of her friends and past teammates. There sat: Major Mapleleaf, Diamond Lil, Earthmover, Sasquatch, Snowbird, Eugene's daughter the new Puck, Yukon Jack, Nemessis, Madison Jeffries and to Heather's surprise her x-husband Guardian. Everyone said their welcomes and hellos until a man and a woman appeared out of no where insisting they all sit down.

"Thank you all for coming. I am really glad to see almost everyone could make it," the very tall dark and handsome man said as everyone had taken their seats and gave up their attention.

"Who are you and what is this all about?" Mac shouted suddenly.

"Calm down, James. I know you all have ill will against Department H, as you should. But that was a different Department H, you now attend a very new Department H," the man said.

"How do we know that? We have heard this old song and dance many times before," Madison said as he gave an odd glance at his x-wife Lillian.

"I think we should at least hear him out," Heather told the group.

"If it helps, I sense no evil here," Narya blurted out and then went silent.

"Okay, continue," Mac said as he looked away from Heather and Narya.

"Thank you. Now, I am the new Director X and this is my partner Madam Q," the director pointed at the very beautiful long dark haired woman at his side.

"We have joined together and with some help were able to take over Department H and restructure it. This department is totally cut off from the government and any other ties it used to have, evil or otherwise. With the threat going on all over the world and in America, Canada needs a strong super hero team to protect her. We want to provide a department that not only promotes a team of defenders but also a school to take in and train mutants and beings with powers. Almost like Xavier's and Avengers rolled into one," the woman known as Madam Q said to them all as she gave them a little more detail.

"What are you getting at? What is it you want from us?" Eugene asked.

"I was getting to that," Director X began. "James and Walter, your two teams were the last incarnations of Alpha Flight before the teams completely disbanded. All of you are the main core and heart of what Alpha Flight is to this country. That is why I have asked all of you here and I am glad you all agreed to show, except for a few of you. As we know, Centennial has passed on of old age and Elizabeth has vanished from the Earth. Her father, Shaman, sent a decline for he has taken the name Talisman and has joined a team called Salem-X," Director X told them all.

"Wait a minute. Didn't Pathway join that team too, after some Department H incident that led to the death of her sister Goblyn?" James spoke up again.

"That is true, James. Mike and Agatha have taken her in. As for her sister, that sad incident is what led to the all out investigations and closing of Department H's offices. With that happening, we quickly moved in and helped with the destruction and rebuilding of Department H. That is why we have asked all of you here, we would like you to be a part of this new great thing. Not so much as a team but aspositive icons, teachers and staff of this new venture," Madam Q smiled to them all.

"How do we truly know that your intentions are good and legit? Department H has always stood for secrets," Heather asked.

"Well, we have two people here that will testify on our behalf, Northstar, Aurora if you please," the Director said as two figures entered the room.

Everyone burst out with questions and emotion. Last they heard Northstar had been killed, brought back to life and then taken secretly into S.H.E.I.L.D. custody. Aurora was the biggest surprise. She had disappeared and no one had heard from her in ages. Even Madison and Lillian's time with Weapon X before they escaped, had not known what happened to her nor did they ever talk about their time there. Soon they all went quiet when Aurora spoke.

"As you can see, we have joined Department H and of our own free will. Not only did they severe all ties and restructure this, they cut all ties to the Weapon X program. Even though it is still out there, Director X made it clear that they would not be associated with Department H in any manor. He even proved that point by launching an all out attack which led to my freedom along with Wild Child and a few others," Aurora told them.

"Yes, and after that they made a deal and were able to get me released from custody and I agreed to become a part of this team along with my sister," he said as he squeezed his sister's hand.

"And to top it off, they shut down and put an end to what was left of Weapon P.R.I.M.E. and with our help we put away The Master for good which eliminated his team of Omega Flight and gave us back the long lost Marrina," Aurora finished.

"What? Marrina is alive?" they all shouted in unison.

"Yes, The Master had her imprisoned. She is free now and is still in recovery. She has agreed to stay here until she is ready to rejoin society. For all these reason we vouch for their legitimacy and have agreed to join the new Department H," Northstar said.

The Director let them all chatter and welcome back their two old teammates before he spoke up again. "Before we go any further I would like to officially extend the offer for each of you to join us here."

"What happens if we refuse to join?" James asked with suspicion.

"Why nothing, James. Those that want to join will report back here in a few days, Monday at eight a.m. while those that decline are free to go on with life as normal," Director X answered.

"We do ask, that if you decline, please don't speak or act against us or form hero teams to conflict with the good we are trying to do here," Madam Q added.

"And if we choose to form our own teams?" James said as his voice got louder.

"We can't stop you but we ask you not to. We would like one focused Super Hero Organization to bring about the better good for Canada. We are not the government or the old Department H," Director X answered.

"Well, I for one question that. I will not be the puppet of another Department H. I am out of here," James said as he got up to leave. "You with me Heather?"

"Actually Mac, I'm not. For what ever my reasons, I want to stay and be a part of this," Heather said blushing at the look of shock on James' face.

"Good to hear Heather. Anyone else who would like to follow Heather's lead please stay for a few more minutes. Those that would like to decline as James has are excused and may go. Please take the next few days to reconsider our offer. If you do, we meet on Monday, if your answer is still no, then I wish you the best of luck in life," Director X said as he looked at each of them.

"I am out of here," James said as he bolted out of the room giving Heather a nasty look.

Madam Q and Director X then looked at the others.

"I'm in. Where the good of Canada is needed I shall be there," Major Mapleleaf said saluting the director.

"I really don't know," Diamond Lil started to say.

"I'll have to pass. I just got remarried and I promised my wife I would give up the hero biz for good. We are actually getting ready to move to The States," Madison Jeffries declined. -**See Wild Pack #1 to see what Madison is up to.**

"I change my mind. I'm staying," Lillian shouted as she walked over by Heather, her face covered in shock and rage.

"I will have to decline. My time with Alpha was brief and I think civilian life better suits me," Earthmover declined.

"I too must decline, I have decided to go back to teaching," Sasquatch said as he quickly ran after James.

"I must return to nature. I sense no evil here and I am needed elsewhere," Snowbird replied as she left the room.

Zuzha, Puck's daughter, Yukon Jack and Nemessis declined saying after Walter's run they had enough of Alpha Flight for a lifetime and left the room. All eyes turned to Eugene, the only one left in the room. He felt torn between Heather and James. He really didn't know what to do for the first time in his life.

"Eugene?" Heather and the Director asked at the same time.

"I have to really think about this. Can I get back to you by Monday?" Eugene asked.

"Yes, that will be fine. Even though there is no pressure, we would gain greatly from your addition here to our team," Madam Q smiled at him.

"Please think about it Eugene. Wouldn't be the same with out you," Heather smiled stepping a little in front of Madam Q.

"I promise, I will think about it," Puck said as he left.

**Sunday Evening, 7 PM – Home of James Macdonald Hudson**

James got up at the sound of his consistently ringing doorbell and threw open the door.

"I said go away! Oh it's you Eugene. Sorry about that, come on in," James said plopping back down in his chair.

"What's got you in a mood?" Eugene asked closing the door behind him.

"Sorry about that. Heather was here about an hour ago and we had a huge fight," James answered.

"What did she want?" Eugene asked as he grabbed a beer and sat down.

"She said that they told her before hand that they wanted to make her the leader and would really like me to co-lead with her. She really laid it in thick. I can't believe they have her brainwashed," James grunted.

"What did you tell her?" Eugene asked.

"I told her what they could do with her offer. I told her I don't trust them and I will have nothing to do with them. I also told her to tell them that there is nothing that would make me join them and that they better watch their steps. Then she left. I can't believe, despite our divorce, all that we have been through she would choose them over me," James said as he downed his beer.

"James, you have to learn to accept Heather's decisions. It can't always be your way or the highway with her or anybody for that matter," said Eugene.

"I know, but it still hurts you know," said James.

"I know, James, I know," Eugene said growing quiet and uncomfortable.

"So have you decided to join them?" James asked suddenly.

"That's why I'm here. I'm torn and not sure what to do. I did some checking and there are some doubts I'm having," Eugene said lowering his voice for no reason.

"What do you mean?" James asked sitting up with interest.

"It's probably nothing but some things don't add up. How did they manage to free them from Weapon X so easily? Or get Jean-Paul away from S.H.E.I.L.D.? Also, they did stop The Master and his team of Omega Flight but there is no record anywhere as to what happened to them. The other thing, Weapon P.R.I.M.E. is no more but the three members actually tied to Department H and Alpha Flight, Killjoy/Killspree, whatever he calls himself, Double Trouble and Tiger Stryke have not been seen or heard from since," Eugene finished.

"I know what you mean. So what are you going to do?" James asked.

"That is where I am torn Mac. I have a loyalty to both you and Heather. If anything I would like to join just to keep an eye on Heather and that place. Then again, maybe this is all legit and could be a good thing. A lot of the old gang is joining," Eugene said.

"But?" James asked.

"You are also one of my oldest friends. If you don't want me to join I won't. If you feel like maybe we need to form our own team I would agree to that," Eugene finished.

"No! I'm not forming another team. I'm done with that. There is nothing in this world that could convince me otherwise. I'm sure everything is fine and Heather is a big girl who can handle herself. I would tell you not to join but I'll leave that up to you. If you don't mind though, I really need to retire for the night," James said as he said his good-byes and shut the door behind Eugene.

James got up and got ready for bed. Just as he was about to turn off his light he heard a knock on the door. It had only been about a half-hour since Eugene left. Maybe he forgot something. James got up and put on a robe and answered the door. James gasped as he found himself looking in a mirror. He blinked and realized that James his clone was standing in front of him.

"What are you doing here? I thought you left to find a life of your own instead of replicating mine," the real James said.

"I just talked to Heather and I'm here to ask you one more time to reconsider and join us," the clone said.

"Forget it. I will never join. Wait a minute, what do you mean _us?_" James asked.

"Well, when you refused they said to ask you one more time. They seem to really want the two head figures, Vindicator and Guardian. Their thought is that if you refuse then why not have me, the clone, take over the spot. The public wouldn't know the difference. Hell, working with Heather maybe I could take over all aspects of your old life," the clone smiled.

"You stay away from her you hear me or else," James shouted.

"Or else what, you have no power. Since you have refused, Department H is claiming rights to your power suit. With your rejection I'm to claim the suit," the clone laughed.

"Over my dead body, that suit is mine. How dare you threaten me you fake wannabe. Wait till I call Heather. We will put a stop to you real fast," James shouted.

"James, meet Epsilon Flight," the clone said snapping his fingers.

Before James could react dozens of men in green armor exploded through his door and windows. He quickly found himself overpowered by these men. As he struggled with the beating he was taking, he could hear his house being torn apart. Suddenly he blacked out from the pain. After what seemed like eternity he regained awareness and squinted up at his clone. The clone stood there smiling and holding up James' Guardian power suit.

"We have what we came for. Just a word of warning, you so much as contact Heather or the public with any ill words or lies about Department H I will personally kill Heather and all you hold dear. You will not stop us from doing good to this country," the clone laughed.

"I will stop you," James said spitting up blood.

"Good luck. Form a superhero team if you like, we can't stop you nor are we doing anything wrong. If you attack us you WILL look like the villain team. Whatever, it doesn't matter as long as you say nothing about us to Heather or the press. Oh, and one last thing. The name Guardian and Alpha Flight are legally copy righted by Department H. Use either of those names and we sue you for everything you might have left or hold dear," the clone smiled as he kicked James in the side and departed with the power suit.

James lay there for awhile until he gained the strength to sit up and grab his cell phone and spoke "Puck" causing it to dial.

"James?" Eugene answered.

"I've changed my mind," James managed to say.

"James, what's wrong, what's going on?" Eugene asked.

"I want you to join Department H. I can't tell you why but I want you to be my eyes and ears and keep an eye on Heather and don't let on to anything," said James.

"You got it. What are you going to do?" Eugene asked.

"I'm about to do what I said I was never going to do," James said as he hung up the phone and muttered another name into his phone, "Sasquatch."

**Next: Issue #2 – Starting Over – Part Two**


	3. Starting Over Part Two

**Alpha Squads**

**Issue #2 – Starting Over – Part Two**

**Department H – Slightly before 8 a.m. - In the meeting room**

She was the first to arrive. Heather looked in the mirror on the far wall while she waited for the others to show up. She wasn't sure if she liked the new costume. When she had arrived they had given her a new power suite. It looked just like her old Vindicator costume but had been given enhancements and had a white leaf with a red "V" in the middle of it upon the chest of a totally red costume minus the boots and gloves and facemask being white. They told her that they wanted a special look for the new team.

"You look great," said a voice from behind her.

Through the mirror she could see a man in the Guardian power suit. Like hers, she imagined it had been given enhancements and the pattern had changed. It was just like hers but inverted. The leaf, boots, headpiece and gloves were red against a white costume with a "G" in the middle of the leaf. She had to admit she was a little sad that the man behind the mask was a clone that looked just like her ex-husband James McDonald the original Guardian. She still couldn't get over James' refusal to join the team and had been willing to turn over his suit to the Department. Still, it didn't matter and even though he was no real James, the clone would still be a great teammate and she knew she was doing the right thing.

"Thanks, you don't look too bad yourself. Not sure if I am digging the whole inverted twin look though," Heather said with a smile.

"You'll get used to it. They want us to look unified as leaders of Alpha Flight," Clone James said.

"Unified or not, I don't like it," Puck said as he entered the room wearing a suite with the same color patterns as Guardian except his leaf bore a "P" in the middle of it.

"Oh Eugene, you look adorable," Heather laughed hugging him. She was glad he had decided to join.

"You better stop or I just might change my mind." Eugene knew he was suppose to be Mac's eyes and ears but the only evil he had found was the costume designs.

Before they could speak any further, Diamond Lil, Major Maple Leaf, Aurora and Northstar entered the room. Their costumes bore the same patterns, the girls all looked like Vindicator and the guys all looked like Guardian's. Each of them also bore the first letter of their codename in the middle of their chest. Whether they all liked the costumes or not, the team was here and assembled.

"Even though I was hoping for more, you seven are the lucky new members of Alpha Flight," Director X said as he and Madam Q entered the room and they all took their seats around the table.

"As we have told you, we have restructured Department H and turned it into something good," Madam Q started. "Our goals are to have Department H serve as a unified source for protecting Canada and as a school to recruit and train young kids and adults alike to control and use their powers for the greater good."

"How do you plan to do that and how do we all fit in," Heather asked.

"You seven will be known as the new Alpha Flight. You will be the elite and first line of defense for protecting and serving Canada. You will be sent out into the field when needed but you will also be teachers," Director X said.

"Teachers?" Lillian, the woman known as Diamond Lil asked in surprise.

"Yes, teachers. Each of you will be leading other divisions of Department H. In time, we would like to see you all shy away from super heroes and act more as teachers and trainers," Madam Q continued.

"Yes, soon you will train others who will one day be promoted to the rank of Alpha Flight. Others will be in the public eye as the premier group known as Alpha Flight while you all work more behind the scene," Director X finished.

"So what are these other divisions?" Puck asked with suspicion.

"You know Alpha Flight, which you, Heather will be leader of with Guardian as co-leader. Your role will be more of a liaison between Department H and the division. You will over see all and report directly to me and Madam Q. which means, if Alpha Flight is required to go out in action, unless necessary, you will not go into the field," Director X started his report.

"As you have meet the other day, we have hired Mr. Louis, Feedback, as leader of Epsilon Flight. They mainly consist of normals or weak powered beings whom act as security for and within Department H. Even though they fall below Alpha Flight and you Heather, Albert and his men will report directly to me," Director X said as Feedback came into the room.

"Next is Gamma Flight. This division consists of under aged children who have not yet developed their powers or are way to young to start training. They will be lead by Mistress B," Madam Q said as a young beautiful blond haired woman entered the room and smiled at all of them. "She will take care of their studies and curriculum. Mr. Sadler, you will be assisting Mistress B in supervising and guiding these young minds."

"That would be an honor," Major Mapleleaf saluted. He liked the idea of guiding young children, as well as working with such a beautiful woman.

"Next is Beta Flight. This division consists of older students and people who are ready to train to use their powers. They will be the next generation of super heroes of Canada. They are the ones working to make the cut to Alpha Flight or end up in the lower ranks of Epsilon or staying in Beta or moving to one of the other elite divisions. I have faith in both Aurora and Diamond Lil in training the next generation," the Director said.

"What are the other divisions?" Heather asked.

"That would be Z Flight and Omega Flight," Director X answered.

"Omega Flight? I thought they had been put away along with the Master. I knew something was not right here," Puck began to shout.

"Now calm down, Mr. Judd. This isn't what you think," Director X began. "Omega Flight was stopped but we have reorganized that into a great division here. We have taken some of Omega Flight along with a few others and made Omega Flight a more covert strike team."

"A secret strike team? I'm not buying this," Puck grumbled.

"As much as we need Alpha Flight, we also need a team that stays out of the public eye and handle situations that need specific attention. To show there are no hidden agendas, Puck you will be leading this team along side me," Madam Q informed the small man.

"See, Eugene, there is nothing to worry about," Heather said touching his shoulder.

"We'll see. So what is this Z Fight?" Puck asked, calming down just a little.

"They will be an experimental group. Apart from Alpha and Omega, this group will handle specialized missions. It is still in the works, for we only have a few members right now. Two of which you know, Marina and Wild Child have asked to be apart of this team. Northstar and Guardian will be in charge of training and developing this team," Director X answered.

After a few more questions were shouted out Director X and Madam Q began to go over more details and expectations of what their role as Alpha Flight and teachers of Department H would entail.

**The home of James Macdonald Hudson – early afternoon**

It had only been a few days but Mac was still swore from the beating he had taken. Normally he would have retaliated but he didn't want to put heather at risk. Without proof of Department H being evil or if the clone was acting on his own vendetta he had to bide his time. What he needed to do now was to find away to protect Canada from evil and Department H and their squad while also trying to uncover the secrets that he knew Department H and Director X held. The only way to do that was to form his own team.

"Are you sure you're doing this for the right reasons or as a way to get heather back?" said a large orange haired beast.

Mac looked over to see his longtime friend and teammate Walter Langkowski, otherwise known as Sasquatch, putting the last of his furniture in place and then shifting back to human form. After the clone had attacked him and had his house ransacked and his power suite stolen, he had called his friend Walter. They had spent the whole weekend patching him up, putting the house back in order and coming up with a game plan.

"I am serious Walter, something is not right with Department H and I fear for all of their lives," Mac said as he got up and looked out the window.

"I know that is why I and the others have agreed to join and help you," Walter said.

"I can't believe how hard it was to find people to join us. Either they are with Department H, no where to be found or flat out refused to get involved," Mac said.

Snowbird and Earthmover, as favors to Mac and Walter agreed to join them team. Zuzha Yu, out of spite for Mapleleaf breaking up with her and joining Department H without her had agreed to join the opposition. Also, as a favor to her dad Puck, but she would never admit to that. With the thought of those three they had come into the room where Mac and Walter sat.

"It's good to have a Puck on the team again," Mac smiled at Zuzha.

"Whatever, dude. By the way, I have decided to let Eugene have his name back and took one for my own. You can call me Rebound," Pucks daughter told them.

"Rebound it is," Mac smiled.

"So who else did you get to join us?" Chuck Moss, the hero known as Earthmover asked.

"There are eight of us total, and I believe here are two others now," Mac said as the front door opened and in walked a young girl with short dark hair.

"Lilli, I am so glad to see you again," Mac smiled.

"Lilli? I have read the files, you are known as Ghost Girl," Earthmover commented.

"Yes, and I am so happy to actually be a part of a real team," Lilli said.

"I see you were able to find who we sent you after," Walter smiled as a second person walked through the door.

In came a strange figure. This person wore an all silver body armor that covered everything but the face. As they stared they could not make out the gender, for the person face was at a constant blur. One moment it appeared to be female the next male. When the person said hi, the voice sounded as if three people were talking at once in unison.

"Who is this?" Rebound nudged Earthmover.

"I don't know, but I thought I heard that these two that arrived were former members of Gamma Flight," Chuck responded.

"Hi everyone, we are Silver-Auric," the person said to them.

Walter quickly explained to everyone that Auric, Zhao Tang and his sister Silver, Jimon Kwan were old members and do to a freak event they had been fused with a man name Hedison. Now all three of them shared the same body. Last anyone knew they had disappeared off into space.

"Yes, but we had returned recently and was then contacted by Walter and Lilli. We have accepted our fate for now and wish to help," Silver-Auric said.

"It's great to have you back on the team," Mac said to them. "We'll also do what we can to help your situation."

"You said there were eight of us, who else are you bringing back to the fold?" Walter asked since Mac had not revealed their eighth member or could even think who was left to recruit.

"She should be here soon. Her father and me go way back, and as a favor he has convinced his daughter to join us. I think someone with her talents and abilities will be a great addition as well as a member that Department H or anyone has never heard of. She will give us an edge we need," Mac said.

"I am already here," they all jumped and turned to see that their eighth member was leaning against the wall behind her.

"Switch, I didn't see you come in," Mac said in surprise.

"Of course you didn't," the woman called Switch remarked without emotion.

Everyone looked the woman over up and down. She appeared to be in her twenties, very pretty and her body was firm and toned. She wore an all blue leather suit. Only her face as not covered by this tight fitting blue leather. Even her gloves and healed boots were made of blue leather. While her eyes were also a deep blue, her skin was dark as night. She did not wear makeup and her hair was buzz cut and dyed blue. They also noticed she wore two swords crossed on her back and a pouch on each hip, also all blue. She looked stunning yet dangerous.

"You go by anything other than Switch?" Zuzha asked feeling a bit of jealously coming on.

"Switch will do just fine," the woman said as she turned to Mac. "Here you go, special delivery just for you from my father."

"Thanks," Mac said catching the bag Switch had just thrown at him.

"What's in the bag, Mac?" Walter asked.

"My new suit," Mac said as he pulled out something red and slipped into his bedroom.

After a few minutes Mac came back out wearing an all read spandex shirt and pants, exposing his bare feet, hands and head. On his chest was the Canadian flag. As everyone began to chuckle, Mac slipped on a red ring and pressed it. Suddenly the outfit shifted and he was soon covered, head to toe in complete body armor, still all red with the Canadian flag on the chest. Even though it was body forming, you could tell it was armor.

"Very nice," they all said at Mac's new duds.

"Yes, I would like you to meet the new and improved James Hudson, now known as Protector," Mac said posing proudly.

"And what do you call us?" Walter asked.

"We are Canada's premiere defenders. We are Team Alpha!" Protector shouted.

"Great, so what do we do next?" Rebound laughed.

"May I suggest finding a new headquarters?" Snowbird finally spoke as they all looked around at Mac's somewhat destroyed house.

Mac just laughed, and soon the others joined in, except for Switch who just leaned against the wall watching everyone.

**Payphone in a dark remote area – late evening**

"Hello?" asked a figure picking up the receiver as the payphone had finally rang.

"Are you alone?" asked the voice from the other end.

"Yes, no one suspects I'm here."

"Good, things have been set in place here and my master is very pleased with what has been accomplished. I assured him that nothing would get in the way of his plans. That all agendas are in synch and not conflicting," the voice form the other end replied.

"That is great. I still don't know if what I'm doing is the right thing," the person on the payphone whispered.

"Yes you are. You will be greatly rewarded. What ever you do, do not get caught or betray us, otherwise bad tings would happen if you made my master angry," the voice on the other end threatened.

"I won't, my loyalty has always been to you," the person on the payphone confirmed.

"Now, what have you learned? Tell me everything," the voice asked with great joy.

"Well, they are officially a team calling themselves Team Alpha. James is calling himself Protector and has a new suit. I don't' know much about the other team members but here is what I know," the person on the payphone said as she started to give off names and information.

**Next: Issue #3 – The Swarm**


	4. The Swarm

**Alpha Squads**

**Issue #3 – The Swarm**

**Department H – Meeting Room**

"Thank you both for coming. This will be the first of our weekly board meetings to discuss how things are going," Director X said as Heather and James Macdonald took their seats across from him and Madam Q.

"We'll start with you, Madam Q."

"Nothing major to report, sir. The school enrollment is growing well and we are being recognized positively in the public eye for the first time in a long time. Canada is seeing us and Alpha Flight as a great source of super hero protection and training," Madam Q said.

"That is good, and no problems from Mr. Hudson?" Director X asked.

"No. After agreeing to turn over the suit to us with no problems, we or the public have not heard anything from him," Madam Q said.

"I still don't believe that Mac turned that over without a fight," Heather said eyeing everyone closely.

"Believe it. I mean he didn't like it and we had some words but he knew he had to do it. You called him didn't you?" Mac's clone asked.

"I guess. When I called him he didn't say much. He just said to be careful and left it at that," Heather said, still wondering what she had sensed in Mac's voice and what he wasn't saying, but they had both made their decisions and had to move on.

"Great, now, Miss Hudson, what can you tell me about the divisions?" Director X asked.

"Epsilon Flight is running fine with Mr. Louis. We've had no problems with security, except I discovered that a ship had been taken out a few weeks ago but there was no record of it as to why. When Albert was questioned he finally confessed that him and some guys went out drinking. I still find it odd," Heather said.

"I will talk with him and he will be reprimanded," Madam Q said quickly as Director X motioned for Heather to move on.

"Gamma Flight is going great. We don't have that many children yet but Mistress B & Mr. Sadler are getting along fine and getting things running smooth with the ones we have.

"Beta Flight is looking promising. There are a few and Aurora and Lillian are doing a great job in training them and teaching them. Aurora has already noted a few for potential advancement.

"Omega Flight got off to a slow start but Puck is finally coming around and getting them to all work as a team," Heather said, still having her doubts about Eugene handling the role of leader with the members of his secret strike force.

"Yes, I agree. Mr. Judd and me had started off on the wrong foot but I've stepped back into a more supervisory role and let him lead the team solo. I'm hoping to send them on a mission soon to test their team work," Madam Q added to Heather's report.

"I know you have no contact with Z Flight, Miss Hudson, James if you would?" Director X nodded to the clone.

"Jean-Paul has been working with the four members we have right now. I have sent you a report on their training along with the list of potential candidates to be recruited," James said.

"Great, we can talk more later after I review the notes," Director X said as he was interrupted by an alarm.

"What is going on?" Madam Q jumped up.

"Director X, we have a situation downtown," Albert Louis's voice came in over the intercom.

"What is it?" Director X asked.

"Seems a swarm of robotic bees are attacking the area with laser shooting stingers."

"James, gather Alpha Flight and go. This will be our first major stunt so make us look good," Director X said as James and Heather got up. "Hold on Heather. I think James and the team can handle this. There is no need for you to go out in the field. We will need you to help keep an eye on the school while they are all out."

"Yes, sir," Heather sighed as James rushed out of the room. As much as she liked what was being done here, she was starting to miss the ability to go out on missions.

**Interlude One – Hidden Lab**

A figure moved slowly back and forth. He was growing impatient. He didn't escape that wretched island and come here for nothing. If he didn't get some test subjects as promised he would for feral. Just as he was about to get the fur on his back ruffled a figure in shadows appeared on the monitor.

"How are you doing my good doctor?" The voice asked.

"How do you think? It's getting a bit lonesome in here."

"Have the chambers been completed?"

"Yes, I installed the Taurus Tube last week. They're ready for occupants. When am I going to start testing them?"

"Does the chambers and the devise work?"

"Yes, all the Star Stones have been placed in the control slots. The Gemini Tube didn't want to power up but I got all the bugs worked out. All I need now is some people to test this on to see if it will truly do what we designed this devise to do."

"Don't worry, you will," the shadowed figure on the monitor said

**Downtown**

"Here we go guys. Our public debut. Let's show Canada that we are the true Super Heroes here," James said as he gave the signal.

Robotic bees flew at them all in a matter of moments. Walter, the man known as Sasquatch leapt into the air smashing them left and right with Rebound right behind him. Earthmover and Silver-Auric did their best to avoid the laser stings as they used their powers against the swarm. Switch, in what seemed like a choreographed dance, sent mechanical parts every where with her swords.

"Ghost Girl, Snowbird, see if you can find the source behind these things," Protector said as he flew into the air to put his new suit to the test.

"Watch out!" Silver-Auric shouted as Earthmover was hit with a bunch of laser stings dropping him to the ground in pain.

Silver-Auric seemed to shimmer and pause but then shock it off and they began to freeze then melt the bees around Earthmover.

Lilli floated along as bees tried to get her but simply passed right through her and Narya as they moved deep into the heart of the swarm. Snowbird was using her powers to try and sense the evil behind the swarm. They hadn't had any luck yet, but Narya claimed to be getting closer.

"Anything yet?" she asked Snowbird.

"Yes, right around the corner here. There!" Narya pointed at a giant robotic looking creature.

"Bernie?" Ghost Girl gasped.

"Who?" Narya asked.

"He is known as Man-Bot. He was a member of the Alpha Flight team I was involved with. I had always wondered what had happened to him. Bernie, why are you doing this?" Lilli asked.

Suddenly a large piece of metal broke off from Man-Bot and transformed into a giant bee and flew at them while Man-Bot took off around the building.

"He's getting away," Narya said.

"I know but we can't ignore this giant bee," Lilli said.

"Don't worry, my sister will handle it. I'll go after the man bot," Northstar said as he took off around the corner and Aurora flew at the giant bee leaving the two members of Team Alpha stunned.

"Mac, there are just too many of them. Soon all the hair on my body will be singed off," Walter laughed as he took a few more stings to his body.

"Then maybe you better step down and let a real team handle this," shouted a loud voice.

Protector and Sasquatch looked up to see four figures flying down from an aircraft. Guardian, Puck, Major Mapleleaf and Diamond Lil came quickly into view. Alpha Flight had arrived.

**Interlude Two – A bar just outside of the downtown area.**

"Turn up the sound," the man known as Colin Hume said as he put down his drink.

"Crazy huh? Whole down town is being attacked by robotic bees," the bar keep said.

"Oh no, I better get down there and give them a hand," Colin said as he prepared to go.

"You're not going anywhere, Windshear. I have a score to settle with you," a man said as he blocked Colin's path.

"Tiger Stryke, get out of my way. I don't have time for this," Windshear said as he started to call forth his powers.

"Wrong, it's time I taught you a lesson," Tiger Stryke said.

"Actually, Mitchell, Colin is needed elsewhere," came a voice from the entryway.

"Hey there, am I glad to see you. I could use a hand," Windshear started to say towards the new comer as he was cut off by something that came so fast he didn't see it coming till he was hit and on the ground unconscious.

"Well, never thought I would see the day. I had heard stories but who would have thunk it?" Tiger Stryke laughed.

The person in the doorway clapped his hands as the bar exploded inwards and a swarm of men in uniforms came rushing in. They moved so fast, that before he could react, Tiger Stryke along with any other eyewitness were quickly gunned down.

"Take Windshear back to base. The rest of you, leave the rest of the bodies here and burn the place down. I have other business to tend to," the mysterious man commanded as he flew off.

**Downtown battle – The Alpha Squads**

"Get out of here. We have this under control," Protector said as he fired blasts from his hands blowing up bees.

"I can see that. Now how many of your team are down or injured before we got here?" Guardian laughed as he blasted a few of his own.

"Why don't you just stuff it!" Mac yelled as his anger got the best of him.

A blast hit Protector almost sending him down. He turned to see his clone smirking. "Sorry about that, Mac, the bee moved. Was an accident, I swear."

"Accident my butt," Protector swore as he flew at Guardian. Pockets on the side of each of his arms opened up and launched two balls at his clone. The exploding impact sent Guardian flying into a near by building.

"Mac, can you quit fighting amongst yourselves. We need to fight the swarm not each other. I know it's tough but at least we can try to work together," Puck said as he flipped up and over to avoid a few sting blasts.

"I know, old friend. He makes me so mad," Mac said as he returned to blasting robotic bees.

"The old man is correct," Rebound said as she bounced off Puck and swatted at the bees.

"You will pay for that!" Guardian yelled as he came flying out of the building.

"James, stop!" Diamond Lil shouted as she grabbed Guardians leg pulling him back. "We need to take care of the Swarm first."

"Your right. Don't think this is over, Mac," Guardian said as he flew off into a batch of robotic bees.

"You two can go, I have this under control," Aurora said as she picked herself off the ground and charged back at the giant robot bee.

"Yeah, sure looks like it," Lilli said as she watched Snowbird and the woman known as Aurora trade blows with the giant bee.

"We used to be friends, Jeanie-Maire," Narya said trying to avoid the giant sting blasts as well as Aurora's cold comments.

"We're not friends, and my name is Aurora," she said as she collided with Snowbird knocking both of them to the ground.

"This is getting no where fast," Ghost Girl said as she moved up to the bee and phased it into the ground and then destroying it as it became solid within the ground. Lilli shook her head as she watched the two old friends wrestle on the ground.

"Mac, there is just too many of them," Puck said as welts formed all over his body from the sting blasts.

"Wish we knew how to stop these things," Protector said.

"Over there," Silver-Auric said as a form came into view.

They all turned to see Man-Bot come around the corner, soon followed by Northstar. It appeared that he had the robot on the run. At the sight of Man-Bot, the swarm of bees gathered around it positioning for a final attack. Both Alpha Squads stood to face Man-Bot and his swarm.

"Bernie? Please stop this. I command you!" Guardian shouted at his old teammate.

"I can't. This is what I'm programmed to do," Man-Bot said in a computer-like voice as the swarm attacked from everywhere with great force.

"Who told you to do this?" Protector asked as he used his suit's powers to try and repel the swarm's attacks.

"Bernie please stop, for me?" Ghost Girl said as she and the banged up Snowbird and Aurora followed behind.

"Lilli?" Man-Bot said suddenly gaining a more human quality in its eyes. The bees started to stop.

"You can come back with us, we can help you," Lilli said.

"Yes, she is right," Protector said to the man relieved that the bees were all hovering in mid air for now.

"No, he will came back to Department H. He is Alpha Flight's responsibility," Guardian barked.

"Department H? No!" Man-Bot shouted as he made a motion and a bunch of bees merged into a giant object high up in the sky and began to drop.

They all knew what it was, a giant bomb. In a matter of moments it would hit the ground where both Alpha Squads stood. Both teams began to argue about who would stop it and who should be in charge. Switch moved fast. Even though she didn't like to use her powers, she had no choice this time. Northstar blinked as the woman in blue leather was right in his face.

He tried to move but realized he couldn't use his speed powers. Switch shot into the air, and then Northstar flew off in the other direction as his powers kicked back in. It had all happened in the blink of an eye. Everyone stared up after Switch as she was within inches of the swarm bomb. Just before the bomb hit her she turned and looked Man-Bot right in the eyes.

Everyone yelled in surprise as Switch vanished and Man-Bot instantly took her place colliding with the swarm bomb. Both Man-Bot and the bomb exploded into a million pieces. Everyone turned his or her heads in shock to see Switch standing where Man-Bot had been. Even though the explosion went off far enough above them to save them all, they still had to quickly act to block and destroy all the falling pieces of debris.

After a few minutes Guardian and Protector were in front of Switch.

"Why did you do that?" Both of them shouted.

"You had no right to kill," Protector scolded.

"I did not kill. That thing was not even human. It was a robot. I didn't have a choice. By the time all of you stopped fighting amongst yourselves the bomb would have detonated. Yes, you all may have survived but they wouldn't have," Switch said as she turned and walked away.

Both James and his clone turned to see that standing behind them was a large crowd of people. Switch had been right, too many people were at risk. Sirens began to go off as the news, paramedics and the law began to show up. Guardian turned to Protector.

"Get your team out of here. You've done enough. We'll clean up here," Guardian said waving his hands at all the fallen and falling dead robotic bees. With the death of Man-Bot, the bees had lost power too.

Protector ground his teeth, but with a gentle touch from Puck, he signaled his team and he left Alpha Flight to take full credit for saving the day. He would settle the score with Guardian another day. For now, he and his team had to lick their wounds and deal with how they handled the crisis, especially Switch.

**Epilogue – A yacht off the coast of the Virgin Islands**

"Yes, seems like that was handled well. Thanks for the information," a young man sitting in his deck chair looking out into the sun said as he hung up. "Jeeves, bring the boat around. Time to head home."

As the boat headed north, the man stood up and leaned on the edge and looked seaward. He had received a package with a note telling him that his mother was dead. He didn't know who had sent it, but inside was his mom's journal. It was burned and badly damaged. There was only one page that you could make out wording. The page spoke of her regrets for lying to him about where she and his father really worked and how she wished she could tell me how he had died for the Program instead of me believing he was away on business. The only thing else on that page that was legible was the name of the program and something about a file with everything on it that she had hoped to send to him in the event that she died.

After he got word that his mother died, he spent the next few years spending his great inheritance trying to find information and a way to get revenge on the program that had taken his parents from him, both growing up and their lives. What information he could get was small and didn't explain much. Information on this program was scarce and well hidden, but word had it that it had been shut down. Finally, he had received a lead that would help him find that file and get what he needed to create the ultimate weapon and revenge. He smiled as the boat sailed home.

**Next: Issue #4 – Operation X-Files**


	5. Operation XFiles

**Alpha Squads**

**Issue #4 – Operation X-Files**

_**An Abandoned Warehouse**_

"This is it?" Walter, the man known as Sasquatch asked.

"Yes, this will be our new home and headquarters," James, the leader of Team Alpha said with a smile.

"This is a dump," Walter said as he and James went through the front doors.

"That's what it's suppose to look like. That and the special security will keep unwanted visitors from coming in here," James said as he lead Walter to the center of the empty warehouse were a metal beam ran from the floor to the ceiling.

"What are you talking about? Special security, for what?" Walter started to ask.

"This," James said smiling as he put his hand on the metal beam.

Before Walter could say anything the metal beam began to glow. They both found themselves engulfed in a bright light and Walter could hear a weird buzzing sound. Soon the buzzing sound silenced and the light went away and Walter's jaw dropped. They were now standing in the middle of a huge control room. He looked around and saw computer monitors, meeting table and anything else typically found in a headquarters.

"How did you managed this?" Walter asked, still in shock.

"The beam has the whole teams bio-signatures programmed in. It transports you here to our secret underground base. There are also living quarters, a gym and other various features," James laughed at his friend.

"I am stunned. I know you sold your house but even that and the insurance money from the damage there is still no way you could have swung this," Walter said following James to the computer monitor where a figure was sitting.

As they approached the figure stood up and faced them. Walter couldn't believe his eyes. There standing before them was the ex-Avenger known as Iron-Man. James walked up to him and shook his hand.

"Systems are all up and running. You shouldn't have any problems at all. Sorry it took so long for me to get here and finish the setup but I was overseas," Iron-Man said.

"That's okay. Tell Stark that I appreciate the favor. I didn't really expect him to pay back a favor quite this big," James said.

"Well, I better get back to the states," Iron-Man said as he waved and then left the underground headquarters.

"Stark gave you all this?" Walter said still amazed.

"Yes, he owed me a favor. I saved Iron-Man's life once and he said that if I ever needed anything to let him know. So when I ran into him the other day I joked with him and told him about Department H and how I could use a new headquarters for my team. To my surprise here we are. I think he is board without a team to fund," James shrugged.

"Guess so," Walter said as he followed James on a tour of the new headquarters.

_**Department H**_

"You talk to James recently?" Heather asked as she drank her coffee.

"Ya, I stopped by to see him the other day," Eugene said, sitting across from her at the table in Heather's office.

"How's he doing?" Heather asked.

"He's doing good. He's finally put Alpha Flight showing his team up and taking all the credit against the Swarm behind him. You know how he can hold a grudge sometimes," the man known as Puck said.

"Yeah, I know. I still can't believe he started his own team rather than join us here. Guess Canada will be safer with two teams defending her," Heather said.

"Yeah, as long as both our teams remember that is what we are suppose to be doing," Eugene said as he finally got up and started to head for the door.

"Where you headed off to so early?" Heather asked.

"Got to get Omega Flight ready. We have our first covert mission," Puck said, as he was about to head out of the office.

"Mission? Madam Q never said anything to me about sending your team out. Where are you going?" Heather asked.

"I don't know yet. All she said was that the Director received a tip that a disk with very dangerous information was discovered and wants us to get to it before any other interested parties do," Puck said as he shrugged and closed her door leaving Heather with a very puzzled look.

_**New York – An Apartment Building**_

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" A woman yelled as she wrapped a towel around and ran for the phone.

"Hello?" She asked as she picked up the receiver.

"Arlette, I need your help," the voice on the other end said.

"Adrian, is that you?" Arlette the ex-Alpha member known as Murmur asked.

"Yes and I need your help. Someone is after me," Adrian, the man once known as Flex said.

"What are you talking about?" Arlette asked.

"For awhile now I've had this feeling. Then in the past two days I have seen someone following me, but I don't know whom. Then today, on my way home two figures jumped me but I defended them off. You got to help me, you're the only one I can turn to," Adrian panicked.

"Calm down, Adrian. Where are you?" Arlette asked.

"I'm, who's there? Get away from me! You won't get him!" Adrian began screaming and then the line went dead.

"Adrian, Adrian are you there?" Arlette screamed into the disconnected phone line.

"Operator, I need to trace a call, it's an emergency," Arlette said as she dialed "0".

"Sorry, ma'am. I'm not allowed to give out that information at this time," the operator said as Arlette hung up and quickly got dressed and ran out hailing a cab.

"I need a ride, free of charge," Arlette said as she touched the cab driver's neck and invoked her powers.

"It would be my pleasure," the man said as he drove to the address he was given.

The cab stopped and Arlette jumped out. She ran into the office building of the local Phone Company. She was happy that all the customers in line were glad to let her cut to the front of the line. She was just as grateful that the teller was willing to trace Adrian's phone call with no hassle. Some days her mutant powers came in handy.

"Here we are. Looks like the call came from a number in Canada," the lady said giving her the address of where the number came from.

Arlette sighed. She never thought she would go back to Canada again. As much as she hated the thought, she knew Adrian needed her. She headed off to the airport. Thanks to her mutant powers she wouldn't have to worry about neither transportation nor money. She just hoped she could reach Adrian in time.

_**United States – A wasteland that used to resemble a base of some kind.**_

"Get ready," Puck said as he brought the Alpha Jet in for a landing.

"So what's the game plan little man?" the bulky woman known as Ms Mass asked.

Puck put the jet in cloak mode and turned around to face his team. Just like the rest of Omega Flight, he wore a new costume that was all black with a gray omega symbol on his chest. The suite covered his whole body from head to toe. It was necessary to wear this color for covert missions. He was just glad that he had another suit he was allowed to wear when not on missions.

"Shut your trap," Puck glared at Ms Mass.

"Wanna make me?" Ms Mass asked with a grin.

"No, but I will," a slender woman in all black said as her eyes pieces and gloves faded away to reveal purple eyes and hands.

"There will be no need for that Kara," Puck said as he got his team under control.

"Somewhere below this wreckage lies a passage to an underground base. Info has it that somewhere in there is a disk. We need to get in, find it and get out at any cost," Puck commanded.

Puck sat in the jet monitoring the team as the eight members headed in. Thanks to the nature of Omega Flight's suits he could monitor and watch them all from the jet. He had Tech-Noir led the team. Her high tech visor allowed her to see things the others might miss. He watched as she found the passage and the team went down underground.

"Anything?" Puck asked after about thirty minutes.

"Not a thing. I am picking up something down a section here. We're heading down that way," Tech-Nor said.

"Great, keep me posted. I am going to check the outside surrounding here. I thought I heard something. Alert me if you find something," Puck said as he switched to the above ground sensors.

"Okay, I am picking up am active read coming from both rooms. Persuasion, Witchfire, Bile and Brain Drain go to the left. Ms Mass, Sinew and Strong Arm will follow me to the right," Tech-Noir said as the team split in two.

"Keep your eyes open," Witchfire said as they had entered the dark room and their night vision kicked on in their masks.

"Hey, I am feeling another mind," Brain Drain began to say and then stopped.

"What was that?" Persuasion asked and got no response.

"Witchfire, I think something happened to Brainy. He started to say something but now I can't see him anywhere," Kara said.

"He has to be somewhere in this room. Anyone else see him? Bile?" Witchfire asked.

When no one answered her she called back out to Kara with no response. She called forth her powers and lit the room up. She gasped when she saw all three members of her team out cold on the ground. She heard a noise from behind her and screamed as the room went dark again.

"Did you hear that?" Sinew asked.

"Yeah, it sounded like screaming," Ms Mass said.

"I think something is something down here with us," Sinew said sniffing the air.

"I didn't hear anything. I think you guys are being paranoid. Come on, we have a disk to find," Tech-Noir said.

After a few minutes Tech-Noir had found the disk with his visor. It was hidden deep within the wreckage of a bunch of machines. It had taken them almost a half-hour of digging before they got to it. Tech-Noir held it up and wondered what could be worth some much on this disk. He turned as Sinew grabbed his arm.

"Something is in here with us," Sinew said.

"I see nothing," Tech said looking around with his visor.

"Let's get back topside. I'll signal Puck and the second team that we have it," Tech-Noir said as they headed back towards the door they had come through.

"Looks like it was just my imagination," Puck said as he did one final sweep of the grounds.

Puck switched the monitors and realized that he wasn't getting any readings or visuals from his team. He tried calling to them but he received nothing back. Something had gone wrong. Puck quickly leapt out of the jet and ran towards the entry they had gone down.

As he got near he saw a several figures coming and heading towards a man standing near a helicopter. At first glance, Puck thought he saw one of the figures hand the man something small. Puck was pretty sure it was a disk and the figures had cuts and blood on them. He suddenly had a very bad feeling about this.

"Stop, give me the disk," Puck shouted as he somersaulted his way punching and kicking the figures that ran towards him.

"Sorry, this disk belongs to me now," the man laughed as he stepped into the helicopter as it began to take off.

"No, that disk belongs to Department H," Puck shouted as he leapt at the helicopter that had already moved a few feet off the ground.

"Oh, I know who Department H is, that's why I instructed my men to leave your team alive. I want them to know who's coming for them," the man said laughing at Puck as hung to the bottom of the helicopter by one hand.

"And who are you?" Puck said as he tried to get his grip and flip himself up.

The man smiled and waved the disk, "You will come to know me as Weapon Superior."

Before Puck could move something hit him out of nowhere and he found himself falling backwards to the ground below as the helicopter and the man's laughter faded away into darkness.

**Next: Issue #5 – The Arcade**


	6. The Arcade Part One

**Alpha Squads**

**Issue #5 – The Arcade – Part One**

_**New Headquarters of Team Alpha**_

James "Mac" Hudson, the man known as Protector and leader of Team Alpha stood at the head of the table. He had assembled his team in their new War Room. He looked around for a minute at each of his team members. His old friend Walter the Sasquatch, Chuck the Earthmover, faithful Narya the Snowbird, his best friend's daughter Zuzha the Rebound, the sweet innocent Lilli the Ghost Girl, the three in one Silver-Auric and their newest recruit Switch whose name and background remains a secret.

Mac shook his head. He held his team dear but knew this was all he had. Not his dream team but they would do fine. Then again, he never thought he would ever be a member of a super team again, let alone leading one. He had no choice though, Department H was back in business and he didn't care how legit and honest they claimed to be, he didn't trust them. Nothing good had ever come of Department H and he had to be ready to protect Canada and Heather.

James still couldn't get over her agreeing to join the enemy. Was she really that blind? It didn't matter. He had to keep his attention to the present situation. He had Puck looking out for her and keeping an eye on her for him so he needed to put her out of his mind for now. Back to his team and their meeting.

"Why did you call us here? I thought we were supposed to be getting ready for a secret mission?" Zuzha asked.

"Yes, Mac. Did something come up? You seem on edge," Walter asked.

"Yes, as a matter of fact something did come up. It seems that we were not the only ones that had received a tip about some dangerous disk turning up," James said.

"What do you mean?" Chuck asked.

"I received word that Department H not only received a tip but had already sent Omega Flight in to retrieve it," James said with a snarl.

"That's not good. How did they know about this and what do they want with it?" Walter asked.

"I don't know, but it can't be good. If Department H wants the disk then it must be dangerous," James said.

"What now? Do we go after Department H?" Ghost Girl said quietly.

"There's no need. This is one of those, good news bad news situations," James said.

"What are you talking about? How can Omega Flight getting the disk for Department H be good news?" Walter asked.

"Well, that's the thing. The good news is that Omega Flight failed in retrieving the disk. The bad news is that another party showed up and not only made off with the disk but made short work of Omega Flight and nearly killed Puck," James said as he saw a few faces drop.

"What?" Walter and a few of them shouted.

"Yes, it seems that disk and whom ever took it could be a major threat. That's why we are heading to the States to check out the area anyway. Maybe we can find clues of what happened, who took the disk and if there is anything else of value there," James said as he dismissed the team for take off.

"Is puck okay?" Walter asked with Zuzha leaning in to hear.

"Yes, he is going to be fine. Nothing that he can heal from," James said as he heard Zuzha quietly exhale and walk off.

"Still hard to believe. What is on that disk and who took it?" Walter asked as they both boarded the Alpha Jet.

_**Department H**_

"He said his name was Weapon Superior. He came out of nowhere," Alpha said as he looked across his medical bed at the people standing in front of him.

Puck had taken a very serious and long fall from the helicopter. Lucky for him he only broke both his arms and legs and had to wear a brace around his neck. Doctor said he should be back on his feet in a few weeks. His body was healing nicely and he had been lucky. He was upset, not only did he fail his first mission and lose the disk but also his whole team was now in recovery. They would all survive, but barely. Now he had to face the music.

"I'm just glad you're okay," Heather said placing her hand on his hand.

"I've never heard of this Weapon Superior," Madam Q said as the others confirmed.

"This is not good. I don't know how he found out about the disk but now that he has it he is considered a high threat," Director X said as he looked at everyone in the room and then setting his eyes on Puck.

When word had reached the Director that Omega Flight had failed and were being rushed in to medical he had nearly hit the roof. Some new threat now had the disk and that would spell trouble. It seemed that there was now more that he would have to worry about. Once Puck had regained consciousness and could talk, the Director had assembled Heather, James and Madam Q to Pucks room. He secured the room and had Puck tell them every detail.

"I'm so sorry. I just don't know how he got the best of us," Puck said trying to look away from the Director's glare.

"It can't be helped. They were tipped as we were. After you left I had Epsilon Flight scan the area and they found nothing else of value. We did find energy traces that lead me to believe this man used some kind of high-tech cloaking device. No one, unless they were really looking, would never have seen him coming" Director X said.

"I think it's the same technology that gave them the edge to take sneak in and take out Omega so fast. Once the team has recovered, we will be doing some upgrades and training to assure you and your team do not fail again," Madam Q said announcing her immediate take over of the team.

"It'll be okay, Eugene," Heather said calming Puck's growing anger.

"Don't worry, we _will_ be taking the steps needed to find this guy and get that disk back,' Guardian said as he watched Heather with Puck.

"What's on that disk that makes it so important?" Puck asked.

"That's no concern of yours," Madam Q snapped before Director X could answer.

"Actually it is," Heather turned to face the others, "If Department H is as legit as you claim and we are a team then that information should not be kept from us senior members."

"Heather," Guardian began to say as Director X cut him off.

"Your right, Miss Hudson. We have no secrets. What's on that disk that's so dangerous? We've reason to believe that it contains complete records and logs on everything to do with the Weapon Plus/Weapon X program. This disk holds the secrets of everything from the beginning to when it all ended shortly after the destruction of the World and Weapon XV and the complete shut down of Weapon X," Director X informed them.

"Oh, my," Heather's jaw dropped.

"How do you know this and why do you want it?" Eugene asked.

"It was a tip I received and looked into," Madam Q answered.

"We have no use for that information or secret agenda. From what I knew about the old Department H and Weapon X, as well as I'm sure you both would agree, that disk in the wrong hands could spell trouble for everyone," Director X said as Heather looked to Eugene with confirmed understanding and fear.

_**United States – The location of the failed Omega Flight mission**_

"Are you sure this is the place?" Earthmover asked as the Alpha Jet came in for a landing.

"Yes, this is the exact coordinates I was given," Protector said staring at the monitor.

As they landed they put on their cloaking device so the ship would not be seen. The eight members of Team Alpha stepped out of the ship and looked around. All that was here was empty open space with a small shack in the middle. There were no signs of a wasteland, an old base or that any kind of battle had taken place here. This couldn't be the place. If it was, who could have moved in here within twenty-four hours and change all this?

"What do you think, Department H covered everything up?" Sasquatch asked.

"I don't know. This has to be the right place, someone had to of done this," Protector said.

"Something is inside the small building," Snowbird said staring off at the shack.

"Okay, team, let's take a peak inside," Protector said as they walked carefully to the shack.

James tried the door and found it unlocked. He pushed it open and carefully stepped inside. There was only one room and it was completely empty. No sign of any other doors or passages, just an empty one room shack. The rest of the team stepped inside as they all looked around.

"Now what?" Ghost Girl asked.

"What's that?" Switch said as she drew her swords.

The ground had begun to shake and a loud clanking noise could be heard. Before any of them could react the floor vanished and they found themselves falling down a deep hole. It was completely dark and none of them could see where they were falling to. Protector tried to use his suit's powers to see and gain flight but he hit the ground before he could. Protector stood up and hit his head and sat back down.

The lights came on suddenly and noticed that the reason he had hit his head was that he was sitting in a large translucent ball. He glanced around and saw that everyone in Team Alpha was in the same situation. He tried to blast out of it but failed.

"No use, James. These balls seem to be resistant to our powers. Even Ghost Girl can't phase through them," Walter said punching his circular cage.

"Where are we?" Earthmover asked.

"Welcome my friends," a loud voice boomed as a huge screen lit up with the image of a red haired man in a white suit.

"Arcade!" Protector screamed at the image.

"I see my reputation precedes me. May I welcome you all to MURDER WORLD!" Arcade laughed as all eight members of Team Alpha shot out in all directions like pinballs.

_**Toronto – Apartment of Adrian Corbo**_

Arlette had made it to the address she had gotten from the nice phone lady. She walked into the building and walked up a few flights of stairs till she got to the floor where Adrian lived. She walked slowly and stopped in front of his apartment door. The door was slightly ajar. Arlette pushed the door open slowly and peered in.

The entire living room was trashed as if a large struggle had taken place. She feared for Adrian's life, for she didn't know if the blood stains around the living room was his or his attackers. She decided that she better leave before who ever did this came back. Just as she was about to walk out she heard a bump come from behind the bedroom door. She wasn't sure what she should do, but she had to check. What if it was Adrian and he needed help?

Arlette walked to the door and pushed it slightly open so she could peak in. She held her breath when she saw a man in all black wearing black gloves and facemask digging through the closet. His back was to her. She pushed open the door and pulled out her gun from her purse.

"Freeze or I'll shoot?" Arlette said as she pointed the gun right at the man.

"Wait, don't shoot, Arlette," the man said stepping towards her.

"How do you know my name? I said stop!" Arlette panicked and fired the gun.

The man stood in place as the bullet neared him. Just as it was within an inch of him, Arlette saw a glimmer as it bounced off some force field and hit the wall. Before she could say a word he reached out his hand and she felt something extend around the gun causing it to slip out of her hand. She reached down to pick it up but it was under some force field. She stood up and then looked right into the man's eyes.

"It can't be, is that you, J..?" Arlette started to say as the man cut her off.

"Say no more. It's not safe to talk in here," the man interrupted.

"We thought you were dead," Arlette said with tears forming in her eyes.

"Yeah, and that is the only thing keeping me safe right now. You on the other hand, like Adrian, are in grave danger," the man in all black said as he picked up the gun and placed it in his belt loop.

"How would you know if I was in any danger," Arlette said as she stared at the man.

"It's not safe here. Come with me and we can go somewhere a little more secure to talk," the man said.

"I'm not going anywhere with you till you start explaining what is going on," Arlette said.

"What's going on? What's going on is that Adrian may be dead and your next," the man said shoving a piece a paper he had found in her face.

"Oh my," Arlette gasped as she looked at the paper with a list of names. She noticed a bunch of them were crossed out. What got her was that right under a freshly crossed off Adrian Corbo was her name, Arlette Truffact.

**_Murder World_**

Protector's ball came to a stop when it hit a wall and vanished. James shook off the impact and stood up. He was still a little dizzy. It had seemed like hours before the ball had quit bouncing al lover the place. He wasn't sure where he was going since it had been completely dark. The room finally lit up as a large screen with Arcade's image appeared.

"You okay?" Earthmover asked stepping up beside him.

"Yes. Where is everyone else?" Protector said as he looked around to see that they were the only ones in this room.

"Don't worry, Mr. Hudson, everyone is safe right now and we are all hooked up to audio for now," Arcade said as James heard the voices of other team members coming over the speakers.

"How do you know my name and what do you want with us?" Protector shouted.

"Oh, it's nothing personal. You see, I needed a new place to build my new and improved Murder World. Just as I was about to give up looking for property I got a phone call from someone offering me this location and said that I would even get a team of heroes to test it out on. So I agreed, paid the money and was given this location's address and a list of all your names. He even gave me additional resources to get this place fully built within twenty four hours," Arcade smiled.

"Who was it?" Sasquatch's voice shouted over the speakers.

"Sorry, Mr. Langkowski. That information is confidential," Arcade laughed.

"How do we get out of here?" Protector heard Sliver-Auric ask.

"That is simple. Each of you is divided into teams of two. The first team find the exit and escape alive wins," Arcade laughed.

"Wins? What do we get?" Ghost Girl asked.

"Well, Lilli, you get to live," Arcade answered.

"What about the others who don't reach the exit first?" Protector shouted in anger.

"Like I said, welcome to Murder World," Arcade's laugh echoed loudly.

"You won't get away with this," Protector shouted.

"Oh, I already have. On your marks, get set, GO!" Arcade shouted as his image vanished from each room causing each team's room to come to life forcing them to enter the competition and fight for their lives.

**Next: Issue #6 – The Arcade – Part Two**


	7. The Arcade Part Two

**Alpha Squads**

**Issue #6 – The Arcade – Part Two**

_**Murder World – Protector & Earthmover**_

As soon as Arcade had said go, James and Chuck had to move. The wall behind them had sprouted spikes and started moving towards them. Blasts had no effect on the wall and they had no choice but to run forward and pass through an open door if they didn't want to get speared and squashed. Just as they made it through the door they turned as the loud thump of the walls hitting together and the tips of the spikes poked through the wall behind them.

"This is ridiculous. How are we going to get out of here alive along with the others?" Earthmover asked.

"I'm not sure, but we'll find a way. I won't leave the others behind to die in this madman's game," Protector said as he looked around.

They were in a small room with three doors leading out. One of them was in front of them, another on the right wall and the third on the left wall. They had no idea were to go first. Just as they were out to decide an image of Arcade's face appeared in front of them.

"Decisions, decision, but you must pick one. One door leads to the exit while the other two leads to certain death. Choose wisely," Arcade said as his image vanished followed by his echoing laughter.

"Which one do we choose," Earthmover asked.

"I don't know but the ceiling is beginning to descend down on us so we better choose fast," Protector said.

"Wait, let me try something," Earthmover said as he pulled out his pouch.

James looked over to see Chuck pull out a weird looking totem. Check began to chant a few words and then he swiped the air with the totem from left to right. As he did that, weird blue dust extended out and hit each of the three doors. Chuck then shook the totem, said a few more words and then placed the totem back in his pouch.

"What did you do?" Protector asked.

"I used a totem of detection. The doors that lead to death will glow blue, while the one leading to safety will not," Chuck smiled as the ceiling was nearing the tops of the doors.

"What if all three doors turn blue?" Protector asked pointing at the three glowing doors.

"I don't get it, it should work. Unless Arcade lied and all three doors lead to our death," Earthmover said discouraged.

"Wait, look! The doors and the walls are blue as well as the ceiling. Your dust touched everything and it all turned blue except one place. The floor beneath us," Protector said.

"Your right, but what good does that do us?" Earthmover asked as the ceiling was almost to their heads.

"Let me try something," Protector said as he powered up his suit.

Protector let loose a powerful blast at the floor. The blast was chipping away at the floor but not fast enough. He wouldn't let up; he called forth more power and continued to blast the floor. Earthmover reached for his pouch, said a few words and pulled out two flasks. He quickly through them at the spot James was shooting at causing a huge explosion. James stopped firing and fell back.

At this point, they had both kept to their knees because the ceiling was getting very low to the ground. When the smoke cleared from the explosion there was a large hole in the floor. James could not make out what was below but he knew that they had no choice. He dove into the hole as Earthmover jumped in after him.

**_Murder World – Sasquatch & Snowbird_**

Walter was growing tired. There seemed to be an unknown supply of these robot monsters. No sooner did he tear three apart five more joined the fight. He was thankful but yet worried about Narya's shift to a giant white sasquatch. That strength and form was helping keep the monster at bay but he hoped it didn't lead to other problems. He knew all they had to do was keep at it and push. The exit out of the room was just within reach.

"Narya, I told you to turn into a bird and fly up to that balcony and escape," Walter growled.

"I will not leave you," Narya proclaimed as she tore two monster robots to pieces.

"Okay, let's try something. I'm going to charge you and I want you to use my momentum, grab and hurl me up to that balcony. At the exact moment of release become an owl and follow right after," Walter said as he charge her knocking robot monsters aside.

Snowbird pushed away a few monsters and tuned in time to see Sasquatch coming. She grabbed his fur and hoisted him up and through the air. She instantly became an owl and flew after him. Walter was within an inch of the balcony when he realized he wasn't going to make it. One strong orange hand grabbed the edge as he dangled ready to fall.

He looked down to see all the monster robots gathering waiting for him to fall. Walter held his breath as his hand slipped from the balcony. To his surprise he was moving up instead of down. He opened his eyes to see Snowbird standing on the balcony in sasquatch form pulling him up. As soon as he was safely on the balcony Snowbird became Narya.

"Thank you," Walter sighed.

"We better go. I sense evil coming," Narya said as Walter followed after her through the balcony door.

_**Toronto – Unknown Apartment**_

"We'll be safe here. This appears to be vacant for now," Jared Corbo said as he and Arlette Truffact broke into an apartment.

"What is going on here, Jared? We all thought you had died," Arlette said taking a seat on the couch.

"Yes, it was believed that I had died. I thought I had too when Avalanche buried me in that fissure," Jared said as he locked the door and made sure all window blinds were drawn.

"How did you survive?" Arlette asked.

"My secondary mutation kicked in. I remember diving and then my field appeared but it was red and then I shot like a bullet and next thing I knew I was crashing into a fruit stand in New Zealand," Jared said.

"You can teleport?" Arlette asked.

"In a fashion. I can't control it. My field turns red and I blast away. I never know where I will end up so I don't trust it yet," Jared said.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Arlette asked.

"I don't know. I just felt like letting the world think me dead while I started over with a new normal life. I needed a break. My brother was the only one that knew I was alive and he swore never to tell anyone until I was ready," Jared said.

"Well good for you," Arlette shouted feeling tears forming.

"Arlette, you have to understand. I just needed time away from it all. Almost dying makes a person think," Jared said.

"So, what brings you back to the land of the living?" Arlette asked.

"I started receiving phone calls from my brother asking for help. He claimed someone was watching him and was after him. After the last time he called I felt a certain panic in his voice of true fear. I decided it wouldn't hurt to come here and check on him. When I arrived his apartment was they way you found it," Jared said as he powered up his laptop and began typing.

"I had received a phone call from him too and I came. It took me longer since I had moved to the States to live. Who do you think did this? Who would want your brother?" Arlette asked.

"I don't know. Who ever they are, you're next," Jared said

"What makes you think that? Just because my name was on that piece of paper you found? Maybe it belonged to your brother," Arlette said knowing the reality of the truth.

"I think who ever took him drooped it by mistake. Look here," Jared said as Arlette came behind him and looked on the screen.

The piece of paper had names crossed off. Including Adrian's, there was Colin Hume, Yukon Jack, Killspree and a few others that due to the condition of the paper or the extent of the cross marks the names could not be made out. Under Adrian's name was names not yet crossed off. Those were Arlette's name, Whitman Knapp and Wyre's whose name was in pencil instead of typed. The bottom of the paper was burned and frayed so there was no telling how long the list may be.

"See, Colin Hume is listed as missing. Neighbor says that he was last seen going to a bar two blocks from his house. The same bar listed in this article that was attacked by men in suits and burned completely to the ground. Only one body was identified in the wreckage and it belonged to a man named Mitchell," Jared said as he did his Googling.

"And?" Arlette asked.

"Colin Hume, was also the Alphan known as Windshear and Mitchell was known as Tiger Stryke. Both have connections to Alpha Flight or Department H in some way. As is every name on this piece of paper including yourself, my brother and probably the other names on this list we don't have or can't read," Jared said as he looked her right in the eyes holding up the paper.

"So you really think someone wants us all dead? Do you really think we're in danger?" Arlette asked.

"You better believe it, Arlette because you're next," a voice said from behind them.

They both turned to see a woman dressed in all red with a facemask and cape holding her mystical blade.

**_Murder World – Rebound & Ghost Girl_**

"You know, you can be quite handy in a tight situation," Rebound said.

"Thanks. As long as you stick near me and let me hold your hand I will phase us all they way to the exit," Ghost Girl said over Arcade's screams of cheating and not playing fair.

"Actually, I have a better plan in mind," Rebound said.

"What is that?" Ghost Girl asked as Rebound whispered into her as to not let Arcade over hear them.

Ghost Girl squealed with glee as they turned course and headed in a different direction. After a few minutes they found them selves phasing into the room Rebound was hoping they would find. She loved being the best member of her team.

**_Murder World – Silver-Auric & Switch_**

Switch danced with grace as she used her blades to slice her robot attackers. He and the three-in-one Silver-Auric had managed to make it through several traps. Arcade could throw whatever he wanted at her but she would find her way out. They had finally made it to the exit when a trap door opened and they fell into a room below. They had quickly found themselves surrounded by hundreds of fighters with swords.

They began to battle when Silver-Auric shouted that when she blasted one of the fighters it sparked. Soon they realized that these soldiers were only robots and could cut lose, literally. Switch leapt through the air in a blue blur as she sliced from robot to robot. She saw that there were only the robots in this room and no other way out except the trap door above. They had to finish these robots off and get out of here.

"Silver-Auric, don't worry about me. Cut lose with your melting, I'll manage. We have to act," Switch said not really one for talking during a fight.

She didn't hear a response or the sound of things being destroyed. She turned to see a man standing where Silver-Auric had been. The man was just standing there about to be taken out by the robots. Switch closed her eyes and then was standing here the man had been. She quickly deflected the robots and sliced them to pieces while making her way back to the man.

"Who are you and where did Silver-Auric go?" Switch asked.

"I don't know. My name is Hedison. Last thing I remember was being fused with Jimon and Zhao and then waking up here," Hedison said.

"I don't believe this," Switch said, as a robot was about to cut her.

Suddenly the robot froze in ice while others were being burned. Switch looked to see Hedison gone and Silver-Auric flying off taking out robots.

"We apologize. We must have been knocked out for a moment," Silver-Auric said.

"What happened to Hedison?" Switch asked.

"Hedison? He is a part of us. We were fighting then blacked out and now we are awake fighting again," Silver-Auric said.

Switch didn't have time to ponder the problem. She had to finish taking out all these robots and getting out of here. After a few more minutes Silver-Auric took Switch's advice, again, and cut loose. Soon Switch was being flown upward by Silver-Auric to the trap door opening in the ceiling.

_**Unknown Base**_

"Master Niles, supper is ready," Jeeves, the butler said entering a room filled with computer screens.

"Jeeves, look at this," the man named Niles said. Jeeves walked up to see information all over the computer screens.

Niles started typing and pulling up images.

"This disk was made by my mother. It has everything I need on it. See here, this is called Project Weapon Plus. This program was started up in the efforts to create the ultimate fighting soldier. Of course through the years the project changed hands and agencies, but the main goal was to create the ultimate soldier no matter the cost or who was sacrificed," Niles said.

"What do you plan to do with this knowledge sir?" Jeeves asked rolling his eyes at what has become his master's obsession.

"I plan on using this information to do what all others have tried. I will turn myself into the ultimate weapon. Then I will launch a full scale war with my Weapon Plus team and make those who took my parents from me and anyone associated pay," Niles said laughing.

"But, sir, how do you tend to do that?" Jeeves asked.

"You see, in the 1940's the government started Project: Rebirth. They wanted to create a super soldier. The first success but turned failure was Weapon 0, Clinton McIntyre or now known as Protocide. Then they created Weapon I, Captain America," Niles said.

"Do you mean to go after Captain America?" Jeeves asked.

"No, I am not that stupid. Captain America is someone I choose not to touch because he saved Dad's life once. He will be the only one I don't touch in my mission.

"Now, I have found that the Protocide is listed here as alive and perfected by AIM. Because of that, I will recruit him as the first member of Weapon Plus, weather he wants to or not. I have men retrieving him as we speak.

"You see, they tried to recreate Captain America but could never succeed. Out of all the men they tested on Isaiah Bradley was the only success. Even the mutant called Queen ended up dying. Now Isaiah is too old and near death but by attacking him I will draw out his cloned son Josiah and grandson Elijah. Then my plan for revenge begins," Niles said brining up information on the screen.

_**Murder World – Team Alpha**_

Switch and Silver-Auric made it topside just as she saw Protector and Earthmover walk into the room followed shortly by Sasquatch and Snowbird. One thing that concerned her was that Ghost Girl and Rebound was the only ones not to appear. At least six of them had found the exit.

"Anyone know where Ghost Girl and Rebound are?" Protector asked.

"No," Switch said.

"We can't leave without everyone," Protector said.

"Congratulations, Team Alpha. It seams six of you made it this far alive. Question is, who gets to the exit and leaves alive?" Arcade laughed.

"There is no question. None of us are leaving quit yet," Protector said.

"You're right there. None of you are leaving alive," Arcade laughed as the exit closed and hundreds of laser guns popped out of the walls and ceiling.

"Anyone know how we are going to get out of this one?" Sasquatch said looking up at the monitor with Arcades laughing face.

"I have a feeling we are about to find out," Earthmover said pointing at the monitor.

They all looked up to see Arcade's laughing face. Right behind him was Ghost Girl. Before he could touch the button to fire his hand went through it. Arcade turned to see Ghost Girl standing there making the switchboard intangible. Arcade drew a gun but was slammed against the wall as Rebound punched him fast and hard. Team Alpha cheered as Lilli turned the guns off.

Later, after the authorities arrived to haul Arcade off and set in motion the dismantle Murder World, James piloted his team back to headquarters. They had come out alive and beaten Arcade. His team had come out victorious. The only thing that bothered him was who helped that crazy lunatic turn that place into Murder World. Who would not only try and set them up but also remove any trace of what had been there before? Was it Department H, this new foe who took the disk or someone else? And why did he feel that no matter what it was, it was all connected somehow?

**Next: Issue #7 – Weapon Plus – Part One**


	8. Weapon Plus Part One

**Alpha Squads**

**Issue #7 – Weapon Plus – Part One**

_**Headquarters for Team Alpha**_

"Thanks for the information. I'll be in touch," James Hudson, now known as Protector said as he switched of the computer monitor.

"Who was that?" Rebound said as she walked into the room.

"Oh, just and old friend with some information. Assemble the team in the conference room," James said as Rebound nodded and he headed out.

James made his way to the meeting room. The information he had just received worried him. He was sure Department H had their hands in this but after the appearance of Weapon Superior and making short work of Puck and his team, they all had someone else to worry about. If what he just learned was true they could all be in some serious trouble. Hopefully they could get some more answers soon.

"Greetings, James," Walter Langkowski said as James entered the conference room.

"Hi, Walter," James said taking his seat.

"What's the meeting about?" Walter asked.

"You'll find out soon enough. Let's wait till the rest of the team gets here," James said as Walter took a seat next to James.

After a few minutes the rest of Team Alpha entered the room and took their seats. Chuck Moss, the man known as Earthmover sat next to Walter the Sasquatch. Narya Easton, the Snowbird sat on the other side of Protector. Lilli, the girl known as Ghost Girl sat next to Snowbird as Zuzha Yu sat next to Lilli. Silver-Auric sat next to Rebound as the mysterious woman known as Switch took her seat between Rebound and Earthmover. James looked at all of them and then began the meeting.

"I have just received some valuable information from an inside source at Department H. It seems that base where Weapon Superior attacked and stole a disc used to be part of a powerful base called The World. Weapon Plus was a program designed to create super soldiers and super human weapons. Through the decades it has taken on various incarnations as well as being associated at times with Department H. The World was the last incarnation," James said.

"What happened to it?" Earthmover asked.

"A few years ago, it was destroyed. Details are sketchy but rumor has it Wolverine was involved with its take down. Not much was done with that abandoned lab until now. My source tells me that it is believed that a disk containing everything from the beginning with Weapon 0 all the way to the end of The World and Weapon XV," James said.

"Weapon what?" Lilli asked.

"I don't know a whole lot, but each experiment or attempt to create a super solder or weapon was given a number. And the being that succeeded at that moment was officially branded the weapon number," James said.

"So, why would that be a big deal to have a disc with all that information?" Rebound asked.

"Well, from what little I know Weapon 1 is Captain America and Weapon X is officially Wolverine. As you can now see, having the information on who all the weapons are, how they were created and what they can do, in the wrong hands could be bad news," Walter said as James nodded at him.

"Especially since no one, including Department H no longer has complete records of everything to do with the Weapon Plus program, this disc could open up Pandora's box for anyone, including Department H," James said with worry.

"That can't be good," Silver-Auric murmured.

"What do you think this Weapon Superior wants with this disc?" Earthmover asked.

"I'm not sure. What I have been told is this. A being by the name of Protocide has been reported being taken by a group described as the same ones that Weapon Superior was with when they took the disc," James said.

"Who is Protocide?"

"Protocide would be considered Weapon 0. Clinton McIntyre was the failed attempt at creating a super solder. They government then moved on to experimenting on solders. Captain America was created and became Weapon 1. They were never able to recreate that super soldier serum again. The closest they came was a man by the name of Isaiah Bradley. He was to be the original but Captain proved a better success," James said.

"So you think that Weapon Superior might be going after any of the Weapons that still exist?" Walter asked.

"I'm not sure but it might be since Weapon 0 was just taken. Without knowing what is all on that disc, we have no way of knowing whom is all associated with the Weapon Plus programs. Now, we haven't been able to reach Captain America, but he can take care of himself for now. We do have one lead," James said.

"Yes, Isaiah Bradley. If he can't get to Captain America, the next best thing would be Isaiah as Weapon 1," Walter said.

"Correct, I would like to send the team to watch over the man's home. If I'm wrong then it's back to the drawing board. But, if I'm right, they'll be hitting him soon. I want to be there to stop them and get my hands on one of them who can give us more information," James said as he began to run down the mission and get the team moving out for the States immediately.

_**Toronto – Unknown Apartment**_

"You better think twice before fighting us lady," Jared shouted at the woman in costume holding a sword.

"I recognize her from the Alpha Files. You're Nemessis, right?" Arlette asked.

"Yes, and you're in danger, Murmur," Nemessis said.

"What do you want with her and the others?" Jared said as he called on his powers.

"I'm not here to hurt her or you, you idiot. I'm here to help protect her and get revenge," Nemessis said.

"What are you talking about?" Arlette asked trying to fish for more answers.

"I was visiting my former teammate, Yukon Jack when a group of soldiers invaded and attacked. They were trying to capture him. They failed, but at a cost. Yukon was accidentally killed. They all fled but I over heard them say that they would have to find another replacement and their master would not be pleased," Nemessis said.

"Wait, Yukon was on the list," Arlette said grabbing the paper from Jared.

"What list?" Nemessis asked.

"Wait, before I answer that, how did you find us and know Arlette is in danger?" Jared asked.

"One of Jack's tribesmen saw a vision. Saw a group of men attacking a man in an apartment. I did some digging with the description and discovered it matched the Alpha member known as Flex. I found out where he lived but by the time I got there the solders were escaping.

"The apartment was empty and Flex was no where to be seen. As I was about to look around I saw a soldier, wounded in a back alley. I teleported down there and before he died I did manage to find out where they were headed next. He said they were going after a girl named Arlette Truffact. I was about to search for her when I saw Jared here arrive and then shortly after, Arlette. I waited in the shadows and watched what you two were doing and then followed you here," Nemessis said.

"Sorry to hear about your loss," Arlette said.

"Thanks, now what's this list?" Nemessis asked as Jared showed her the list and filled her in on what they knew so far.

"What do you make of it?" Arlette asked.

"I agree with you. Someone is going after people that have connections to Alpha Flight or Department H," Nemessis said.

"What is are next move? Should we call Alpha Flight?" Arlette asked.

"Alpha Flight has changed. Last I heard a new team has been formed by a new Department H and Guardian as changed his name to Protector and formed his own team. I think for now, we are better handling this on our own," Nemessis said.

"I agree. Right now it's hard to know who we can trust," Jared said.

"So what now?" Arlette asked.

"We know you're next. I think that while we protect you, we find the last two names we do know on the list. Let's go find Whitman Knapp," Nemessis said.

"I agree, and hopefully we will find answers that lead back to where my brother was taken," Jared said as they used his laptop to search out Whitman.

**_United States – Home of Isaiah Bradley_**

Vindicator and Guardian sat in the house across the street from Isaiah Bradley's home. The Director had received word that Team Alpha had word about Weapon 1 and Isaiah Bradley and that they were coming for a stake out. Alpha Flight had been assembled to check out the scene and take control of any situation that may come up. Vindicator argued but with Puck still being out of commission she was allowed to go on this mission.

Vindicator radioed the rest of the team. Northstar and Aurora were hiding in the sky while Major Maple Leaf and Diamond Lil took watch in an unmarked van behind the Bradley home. There had yet been no sign of Weapon Superior or Team Alpha. Heather was nervous to run into James again. In her heart she just wished they could all get along.

"Guardian, Vindicator, this is Northstar. Team Alpha is approaching. Shall we take them down?"

"No, do not engage. Just keep an eye on them," Vindicator said before Guardian could respond.

Alpha Flight watched as Team Alpha's jet flew in. Protector switched to stealth mode and landed a few blocks away. They had decided that Protector and Sasquatch would approach the Bradley's and explain why they were there while the rest of the team kept in hiding and watched. James and Walter headed towards the front door.

"What are they doing?" Guardian asked peaking out the window.

"I think they are actually going to the front door," Vindicator said.

"We have to stop them," Guardian said.

"No, we should," Vindicator started to say but was too late. Guardian was out the door and intercepting the two before they reached the house.

"Alpha Flight has this under control, James. Take your team and leave," Guardian said.

"Why don't you leave. We have this under control," James said growing angry at the thought of hwy they were here and how they knew they were going to be here.

"Both of you stop!" Heather shouted as she came out of the house.

Within a mater of moments all of Team Alpha and Alpha Flight were assembled across from each other. Neighbors began to peer out their windows at the arguing group of super heroes. Everyone was so caught up in the show that no one saw the massive fleet of ship descending from the sky. The ships fired missiles as the Bradley house erupted in flames causing the Alpha Squads to fall back.

"It's them. Quick, protect the Bradley's and Team Alpha stay out of our way," Guardian said taking to the air.

"I swear, that man. Switch, Ghost Girl get to the Bradley's house and make sure they are okay. The rest of you let' stake out these idiots. I'm going to try and get us a prisoner with answers," Protector said taking off after Guardian.

Switch and Ghost Girl made it into the house. Flames were everywhere. Ghost Girl went intangible and searched the house. If they were in the house they would find them first. Ghost Girl shouted and Switch ran in her direction. In the kitchen she saw a very elderly couple, Isaiah and his wife and a teenaged boy. They appeared to by okay at the moment.

"We are here to help you," Ghost Girl said.

"What's going on?" Isaiah asked.

"Your family's being attacked. We believe these men are after you," Switch said as she radioed her team for additional help.

Sasquatch came bursting thought and helped carry the elderly couple outside of the house. Once they made it outside Northstar and Aurora landed in front of them.

"Thanks for the assist. We will take them into our custody," Northstar said.

"That's okay, Jean-Paul. We've got it," Walter said.

As the two began to argue a squad of attackers ran up to them firing their weapons. Before they could react a shield flew across and reflected the blasts. Then a figure in blue and red began taking out the attackers one by one. Switch was immediately by his side helping taking down the attackers. Walter looked over at them and then back at Isaiah.

"I don't believe it. Is that Captain America?" Walter asked out loud.

"No, that would be my son, Josiah," Isaiah said with a proud smile.

"Yeah, and he's doing a far better job protecting my grandpa than you are," the young man snapped.

"Elijah, that's enough," his grandmother scolded.

"Scan readings show that the boy has no sign of the serum," one of the attackers shouted.

"Kill him then along with the rest of them. We only need Josiah X. Weapon Superior says we will do fine as Weapon 1," another attacker shouted as they opened fire on the group.

"Heather, how can you still be with him?" Protector said blasting a few ships out of the air.

"James, we've been through this. Department H and Alpha Flight are legit. Whether you want to believe it or not, we have a great school going on and Department H is really doing a good job at regulating the super hero activity," Vindicator shouted back as she blasted a few attackers herself.

"Protector, this is Earthmover. A strong force is moving at the Bradley's," a voice came over the COM link.

"I'm coming. Team Alpha, fall in," Protector said as he went flying off.

"Get out of the way, James. My team will handle this. We are authorized to be here, not your team," James' clone said moving up on his tail.

"Whatever," Protector grumbled as he raced for the prize.

"What's your name, pretty lady?" Josiah X asked as he punched and flung his shield.

"You can call me Switch," she said as she used her swords to take down her opponents without killing blows.

"I see. So, what do you do for fun when you're not slicing bad guys?" Josiah asked.

"Less talking, more fighting," Switch said as she took down an opponent that was almost on top of the Cap wanna-be.

"Ghost Girl, you and Elijah get his grandparents to safety. Earthmover and I will give you cover," Walter said as Earthmover threw a potion that caused a wall of fire to shoot up.

"Are ship is close by. We'll take them with us," Northstar said coming up next to them.

"Ahhh!" screamed Elijah as a blast hit him in the side dropping him to the ground.

"He's hurt badly. There's a lot of blood," Ghost Girl cried.

"I'm almost there," Protector said over her COM.

Suddenly a large explosion went off throwing both Protector and Guardian backwards. They looked up to see the attacking fleet departing. Only a few ground crew remained. Protector got to his feet as he heard the attackers shouting to their fellow comrades that Josiah has been captured and was time to retreat. Protector instructed his team to do what they could as he ran near the Bradley's.

"We need to get him to a hospital," Walter said as James approached.

"We'll take care of them. Your team has done enough. Thanks to your interference they got away with Josiah X," Guardian shouted.

"This is not our fault. It was your team that interrupted us," Protector shouted back.

As the two began to argue, a large round object sliced in front of them and slammed into the wall they stood next two. Theo two leaders stopped and looked at the object embedded into the wall. It was a large, round shield. They took one look and then glanced over at a large figure standing beside them. It was no question who this man was.

"Captain America," Protector whispered.

"That's enough! You two stand here arguing while injured civilians lay in need of medical attention. You should be ashamed to call yourselves heroes," Cap shouted as he ran to his old friend.

"Isaiah, hoe are you?" Cap asked.'

"Week, but Elijah needs help," Isaiah said.

"Captain, he's lost a lot of blood," Iron-Man said as Cap turned and looked at the golden Avenger leaning over the injured boy. "He'll need a transfusion."

"Take me. I'll do it," Isaiah said.

"You can't. Your not strong enough to do this," Captain said looking at his old friend knowing this was true plus Isaiah held another secret within his blood.

"I lived a great life. I insist on giving my grandson a second chance," Isaiah said.

Cap knew there wasn't much time and he and Iron-Man got the Bradley's into the Quin-Jet as fast as they could with the help of a few Alpha members. Before the ship took off Captain turned to the two team leaders and glared at them.

"I want you both out of here now and back to Canada. You hear me? I will be in touch," Captain said as the hatch closed and they were gone.

"Wow, you really messed things up. Cap is mad," Guardian said.

"Me? He was talking to you," Protector shouted back.

"That's enough. Alpha Flight, time to leave," Heather shouted as she turned her back on both men.

"Heather, wait," Protector called after but she didn't even look back.

"This isn't over," Guardian said as he followed after his team.

By the time Team Alpha made it back to their jet Alpha Flight was long gone. Everyone got in and they headed home. No one spoke at first. All were feeling a little ashamed about how the mission went down. No matter who was at fault, they should have handled things better. Not only did a boy get injured; Weapon Superior had made away with Josiah X.

"Not only did we fail, but also we have no way of knowing where they took him or what's next," Protector swore.

"Actually, we have a surprise for you," Silver-Auric said coming up into the front of the jet.

"Well, I'll be," Protector said as Silver-Auric dropped the unconscious body of one of Weapon Superior's men.

_**Epilogue**_

"Team's on its way back. They have Josiah X in custody. The feuding Alpha teams made it that much easier," Jeeves said.

"Great, now we have Weapons Zero and One. The other team should be here soon with Weapons Two, Three and Four," Niles said with a smile.

"Sir?" Jeeves questioned.

"You see, after Weapon One, the government had to create a new Weapon. They began experimenting on animals. Weapon Two were reptiles, Weapon Three were Birds and Weapon Four were Apes. Even though they never succeeded in making a true living weapon, they did produce feral and enhanced creatures. The ape was the closest to successes so they realized they would have to stick with humans," Niles said sifting through the information on the disc.

"And those animals are still alive?" Jeeves asked.

"No, but with the information on this disc I was able to find one living descendent of each animal that carries the gene and blood in their system. I will now have Weapons Zero through Four. Project Weapon Plus is nearing completion," Niles laughed as he scrolled through the information before him.

**Next: Issue #8 – Weapon Plus – Part Two**


	9. Weapon Plus Part Two

**Alpha Squads**

**Issue #8 – Weapon Plus – Part Two**

_**Headquarters for Team Alpha**_

"How's the prisoner? He talking yet?" Walter asked as he walked into the control room.

"He wasn't, but I let Switch alone with him. I'm sure he'll be singing in a minute," James, the leader of Team Alpha said as he turned around to face his old friend.

"I don't know if I agree with some of her methods. She seems a bit hard core at times," Walter said.

"She gets the job done. We need a little edge on this team if we're going up against Department H and now this Weapon Superior guy," James said.

"I've been meaning to ask you, who is she? None of us know her name or anything about her. The only thing we know is her dad knows you and made you that new suit you wear," Walter said questioning his friend and leader.

"Don't worry, my friend. For now, trust in me when I say you can trust her. For now, that's all I can say," James said as Walter grumbled under his breath.

As much as Walter felt loyal to James, he was beginning to have a few doubts. He was beginning to wonder if James was leading this team in the right direction and if James really had all their best interests in mind. It also bothered him that he kept much to himself and kept Switch's origin a secret. Most of all, Walter was beginning to doubt his being on this team. For now, Walter would support his friend and his team, but for how long he did not know.

"Sir, he cracked," Switch said with a smile.

"What did he say?" James asked jumping to his feet.

"He said that Weapon Superior is creating a team called Weapon Plus. They have been instructed to recruit a member of each of the Weapons created by the Program. Superior got all this information from the disc," Switch said.

"What else did he say? Do we know their next move?" Walter asked eyeing her and the blood on her fists and shaking his head.

"He didn't know a great deal. There are different teams in charge of obtaining different Weapon Specimens. His team was to be part of a larger task force being put together in Operation: Weapon X," Switch said.

"Did he have the details for this operation?" James asked eagerly.

"Yes, that was the last of any information he had," Switch said.

"I want to hear all the details," James said.

"As would I," a voice shouted from the doorway.

"Cap?" Walter said as they all turned to see a man in red, white and blue standing in the doorway.

"Hello, Walter, James," Captain America said walking up to the three members of Team Alpha.

"What are you doing hear? This really doesn't concern you," James said.

"A good friend of mine died to save his grandson while his son was kidnapped. You better believe this concerns me. You're going to tell me everything while I help you bring this evil agency in as well as release your prisoner into my custody to have sent back to the States to be tried for his crimes," Cap said.

"Now wait a minute, what do you have to barge in here and take over? Even more, how did you even get in here?" James began to shout.

"I let him in," a figure clad in red and gold armor stepped into the room.

"I should've known better than to make a deal with Stark," James growled.

"The prison is loaded and ready for me to take back. Before I go, I wanted to make it clear that you are suppose to cooperate with Cap or all your funding does bye-bye and make sure you don't need me," Iron-Man said looking from James to Captain America.

"No, Iron-Man. Thanks for your assistance but I think all is under control here," Captain America said as he turned to chat with the leader of Team Alpha as Iron-Man left with their prisoner.

**_Unknown Hideout_**

"Jeeves, have we heard back from the Weapon Teams?" The man calling himself Weapon Superior asked.

"Weapons V and VI have been brought in an hour ago," Jeeves answered, referring to the descendents of the ethnic minorities that had been tested on by the Weapon Plus program.

"Great, this disc sure has been helpful. What about Weapon VII, the only surviving test subject of the nineteen soldiers tested on during the Vietnam War for Project: Homegrown?" Superior asked.

"Mr. Simpson or Nuke, came willingly when he was told why our men were there and what we were planning to do," Jeeves said.

"Little does he know what he's gotten himself into. What about the other two teams?" Superior asked as he began to place on his suit.

"Well, Weapon VIII, the only surviving product of testing on criminals was easy to apprehend. We broke into the vault and freed Steel Fist. As for Weapon IX, they only surviving member of the psychopaths tested on were a little more difficult. We lost fifteen men bringing in Typhoid Mary," Jeeves said.

"As long as we have her, that's all that matters. Now assemble all available soldiers," Weapon Superior said now fully suited up.

"Yes, sir. Are you sure you need all the men?" Jeeves asked.

"Yes, we are now going after Weapon X. Wolverine has vanished form Earth but we have several candidates to choose from and bring in. We have the original test subjects that Wolverine was a part of, Team X. There is also a list of clones of Wolverine, the actual Weapon X as well as the subjects from Department K when they branched off and took control of the program.

"I want one from Team X, one clone and one from Department K's attempts at Weapon X," Weapon Superior said as he waved the disc and headed to the War Room as Jeeves went to do his master's bidding.

**_A Restaurant – Downtown Toronto_**

"Are you crazy? You're going to get me fired," Whitman Knapp the man who used to be known as Manikin said.

"Don't worry. Nemessis has locked the building and Murmur as placed all workers and customers into dreamland," Jared Corbo said.

"You guys are crazy. I'm done with all this hero crap," Whitman said glaring at the three who had barged into his workplace.

"We don't have much time. I don't know how long they will remain asleep. Been awhile since I have extended my powers like this," Arlette said.

"You fool, you are in danger unless you come with us," Nemessis snarled.

"We don't know the true count but a lot of the old members have been targeted and have vanished, including my brother. You and Arlette here are both on the list and are in danger," Jared said waving the paper in Knapp's face.

"I told you," Whitman began to say when he was cut off by a large explosion.

Nemessis, Radius and Murmur flew backwards as the side wall to the restaurant blew inwards. Jared wiped his eyes and saw dozens of armed men leap through the new hole. Before anyone could react, the mutant known as Manikin was hit with several blasts and dropped to the ground. Jared got to his feet and helped Arlette up too.

"They just took out Knapp," Jared said as he pushed his powers to place a shield around him and his two companions.

"We better move quickly," Nemessis said.

"Yes, I have never used my powers to this extent before. I don't know how much longer I can protect all three of us from those blasts," Jared said.

"Attention, men, we have Knapp and word came in that Wyre has been obtained. The woman over there, Arlette Truffact is the last of them. Take her at all costs. Once we have her, the task is complete," one of the guards shouted as all men made for Arlette.

"We can't let them get you," Jared said to Arlette.

"They won't," Nemessis said as she teleported into the mist of the men.

Jared watched as Nemessis did the dance of battle. With great precision and force her mystical blades cut through her opponents. Her mystical strength and reflexes kept her form being hit by blaster fire. Jared hated leaving her behind, but he had to get Arlette to safety. He quickly led her out the back exit of the building.

"Going somewhere?" A man said stepping out of the shadows.

"Oh, thank God it's you," Jared said to the man.

"Jared, watch out!" Arlette screamed, as the figure seemed to change shape and pounce on the two mutants.

Nemessis was growing tired. For every guard she took down three more came at her. It appeared they had already made off with Knapp but she would not let them have Arlette. Whom ever was behind this would pay dearly. Amelia flinched as she heard Arlette scream. Before she could react, the guards shouted and seemed to vanish out the hole they came in. Something must have happened if they were retreating.

Nemessis teleported to the back of the building only to find Jared's body lying in a dumpster. As she got to his side she realized the guards were gone and so was Arlette.

**_Department H – Meeting Room_**

"Where's Northstar?" Heather Hudson asked as she looked around the table.

"He's busy at the moment. Z Flight is ready to be tested and I've had him go to be a part of that," Guardian said.

"That's great to hear. I've a feeling we'll be needing them soon," the Director said.

"Why have you called us here?" Puck said feeling glad to be cleared and suited for missions again.

"We received a tip that Team Alpha has captured a member of Weapon Superior's men and got some information out of him. It appears Weapon Superior is putting together a Weapon Plus team and recruiting members to represent each of the weapons created," the Director said.

"That's what must be all on that disc. With that kind of information, its going to spell trouble," Puck said but also taking note mentally about the Team Alpha tip.

"If what we've gathered so far, they have Weapons Zero through Nine," Madam Q said.

"My guess is that Weapon X is next?" Heather said thinking of her old friend Logan.

"Yes, and their captured prisoner confirmed as much. They're going after members of Team X and the Weapon X subjects from Department K. It also seems that they tend to hunt down the attempted clones of Wolverine," Madam Q said.

"How are we going to manage stopping them without the information from that disc?" Diamond Lil asked.

"The clones are a blank to us but we do have records on Team X and Dept K," the Director said as he pulled up information on the monitor behind him.

"Team X was made up of Wolverine, Sabretooth, Maverick, Silver Fox, Mastodon, Kestrel and Psi-Borg. Sources say Wolverine and Sabretooth have vanished from Earth. Silver Fox, Mastodon, Kestrel and Psi-Borg are all deceased. It seams Maverick is the only one left and the only target. Puck, you and Madam Q will lead Omega Flight to bring him safely to us and engage Weapon Superior's men and get what information that you can.

"The rest of you, along with Feedback and Epsilon Flight will bring in the Department K Weapon X subjects, Deadpool, Slayback and Sluggo. According to our records, Kane, Copy Cat, Ajax, and all those rejects freed by Deadpool are deceased. Wyre has recently vanished from site and Wild Child is safely here at Department H," the Director said finishing his briefing.

"Do we know the locations of the four of them?" Heather asked.

"We have vague leads but you all will do your best and not fail me," the Director said holding his glare at Puck.

With that the members of Alpha Flight left the meeting room and headed off for their designated targets.

**_Airspace between Canada and the United States_**

Protector flew his ship with great speed as Captain America sat in the co-pilot seat. James knew Cap had a stake in this, but he hated how he seemed to be taking over his team. They had been off to discover where they needed to go when James had received a call with some valuable information on Team X and Department K Subjects.

Captain America quickly placed a call into Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. for some information. Nick wasn't happy with being kept in the dark, but because he owed Cap he has able to give them the location of Maverick and Deadpool. The whereabouts of the other two were unknown. Since Cap had better standing with Maverick, they decided to get to him first and then they would go after Deadpool. If anyone could cause Weapon Superiors men a headache it would be Wade. They had sent Ghost Girl to keep an eye on Deadpool and keep a status report till they got there.

The first sign of trouble she was to signal them and Cap would have Iron-Man come with the backup till they got there. It was times like this he wished the Avengers were still around, but he had to work with what he had. But he guessed till they knew more of what they were dealing with they had to contain this on their own. Involving too many people might jeopardize their success in finding and getting these bad guys.

"We're approaching the coordinates, James and it looks like something is going on down there," Walter said.

"Looks like Maverick is already engaged with Superior's men," Captain America said looking at the monitor.

"We got another problem," Chuck Moss the man known as Earthmover said.

"What's that?" James asked.

"Two ships are coming in fast. One is heading right towards the battle and the other has just dropped back and it seams they have locked all weapons on us!" Earthmover shouted as shots shook their ship.

**Next: Issue #9 – Weapon Plus – Part Three**


	10. Weapon Plus Part Three

**Alpha Squads**

**Issue #9 – Weapon Plus – Part Three**

_**Weapon Superior's Hideout**_

"Sir, you called for me?" Jeeves asked.

"Yes. How are the teams doing?" Weapon Superior asked.

"While the primary team has just engaged Team Alpha and Omega Flight for Maverick a secondary team has failed in obtaining Slayback. He was killed while trying to capture," Jeeves said.

"Then send a team for Sluggo. I'm sure he'll be easier to capture than Deadpool. If we can't get Deadpool then at least the team I sent after him will help serve as a distraction while we easily obtain weapons eleven through fifteen," Weapon Superior said.

"If it makes you feel any better, we did get a clone. There is too much going on with the Xavier students to go after her so we got Native instead," Jeeves said.

"I thought she had been killed by Sabretooth?" Weapon Superior asked.

"Everyone did, but her healing factor is comparable to Wolverine's. We found her alive and wandering and took her into custody with some casualties," Jeeves said.

"Good. Let's get the final plans together to take the last few weapons," Weapon Superior said as he turned to his computer monitor.

_**Somewhere Over the United States – Team Alpha**_

"Who's flying those ships?" Protector asked as he maneuvered from a few blaster shots.

"The one behind us is Weapon Superior's men. The other ship that headed straight to the battle I believe belonged to Omega Flight," Sasquatch said as he saw Puck's team leap from the ship and engage the enemy.

"Okay, Alphans, let's jump ship. We can't let either side get Maverick. Take him at all costs," Protector said with disapproving looks from Sasquatch and Cap.

"Let's try and keep this clean and easy," Captain America said as the ship was switched to cloak and auto-pilot.

On Cap's mark, Team Alpha ejected from the ship. Silver-Auric turned and froze the attacking ships engines sending it crashing away from their cloaked ship. The flyers helped the non-fliers as they hit the ground to face Omega Flight and Weapon Superior's men trying to take Maverick.

"Puck, tell your team to stand down. Maverick is coming with us," Protector shouted at his old friend.

"James, I'm sorry but we have orders to bring him in. We can work together to stop these men, but Maverick comes with us," Puck said.

"Don't worry Puck. We can make it look like I got the best of you, but you have to let me take him," James said as he sent blasts at the enemy.

"I got him boss," Witchfire said as she came up from behind Protector.

With a mix of telekinesis and her force blast she hit Protector in the back sending him flying. Protector hit the side of building with great force. Luckily his suit was designed to absorb a large portion of impacts. He got up swearing. He knew the position he had Puck in, but he should understand why he should follow his orders. Protector got up quick and flew back towards Witchfire. Without notice, he felt a large force hit him in the side sending him sideways.

Protector adjusted his suits blasters and gained control and turned to see what hit him. Coming straight at him was Ms Mass. He was about to move forward when a large hairy orange hand grabbed his shoulder. He turned to see Sasquatch standing next to him.

"I got her. We need to focus on getting to Maverick. If we spend too much time fighting Omega Flight then Weapon Superior's men will win this fight," Walter said as he ran at Ms Mass landing her with an upper cut that sent her flying back.

Switch was moving among the Superior warriors when she received a command from Protector to go after Bile. It seemed that he and Brain Drain had Maverick backed into a corner. Switch stood near an alley away from the battle. She slapped her wrists together making a loud noise causing Maverick to glance her way. Switch made eye contact and called forth her powers.

Bile and Brain Drain gasped as Switch now stood in the spot Maverick once stood. Switch grabbed her swords and held them up, ready to pounce. Suddenly, she found herself dropping her swords and unable to move. She no longer had control over her body.

"You may think that you're pretty smart with that trick of yours but thanks to Brain Drain here you can't only move but he is controlling your ability to use your teleporting powers. Now, let's see how you handle a dose of diseases," Bile laughed as he sent a wave of disease at her.

"Why isn't she convulsing?" Brain Drain asked as they saw Switch stand there with no effects to Bile's powers.

"I don't," Bile began and then he as well as Brain Drain dropped to the ground in a huge coughing spasm.

"Isn't that interesting," Switch said now free of Brain Drain's control.

"How?" Bile asked as he began to vomit viscously.

"My other power your friend didn't shut off. I can switch powers with some one. It only lasts a few minutes, but it's long enough to become immune to disease and infect you two with your own sickness," Switch said as she looked up and soon vanished. In her place stood a shocked Superior warrior, as above them, Switch began to swing her swords in the midst of battle.

Maverick watched the scene with relief and then head down the alley. He had to get out of here. He didn't care what happened as long as he got out of their path. Maverick came to the end of the alley to find two Superior soldiers pointing guns right at him. Before he could react, a circular object flew from above knocking the guns out of their hands followed by a large man dressed in red, white and blue tackling them down to the ground.

"Thanks, Cap," Maverick said.

"Anytime. We need to get you out of here," Captain American said.

"I understand why you and your team are here to help me, but what's up with the other two groups?" Maverick asked.

"It appears a man calling himself Weapon Superior is hunting down individuals with a Weapon Plus connection," Captain America said.

Out of nowhere a large explosion sent both men flying. Captain America got to his feet to see Tech-Noir of Omega Flight along with her teammates, Sinew and Strong Arm facing them. Tech shouted at Cap to back away and told her teammates to take Maverick into custody. Maverick looked to Cap as the men approached them.

Cap began to move when a large shape landed on top of him. Ms Mass had Cap pinned under her weight. Maverick soon found himself overwhelmed by the three members of Omega Flight. In a matter of moments Maverick was knocked out and being taken into custody. Puck brought their jet in fast as they boarded with their prisoner.

"Omega Fight has Maverick. We have to stop them," Protector said as he flew up to face the jet flying their way.

"What are you doing, Mac?" Walter asked as he saw his friend powering up.

"I'm ringing down that jet since Puck refuses to respond to my hails," Protector said.

"He's right, James," Earthmover said as he avoided weapons fire from the Superior soldiers.

"We can't let Department H have him either," Protector said letting loose his suit's powers and blowing a hole in the jet's wing.

Everyone stopped and stared in awe as the jet suddenly exploded and crashed into the street. When the smoke cleared Protector saw Weapon Superior soldiers carrying the body of Maverick into one of their jets. Protector began to move towards them when Sasquatch and Captain America stepped in his way.

"Let them go. We have to get the survivors out of the jet," Captain America said.

"But they're getting away with Maverick," Protector said.

"Mac, they've already fled. One of your old friends in trapped in there," Walter said as he ran toward the jet and soon followed by Protector.

When Captain America and Sasquatch made it to the crash sight they noticed the rest of Omega Flight was long gone. It seemed that Madam Q had commanded the remaining members to board her jet as they rose after the men who took Weapon Superior. Some team's loyalties never stopped surprising him. He looked at the jet and saw Team Alpha already reacting.

Silver-Auric was using their powers to freeze the fire on the jet. Snowbird and Rebound had already pulled Puck out of the jet. He was barely conscious and burnt bad. Earthmover pulled some dust out of his bag and sprinkle dirt upon his face. The burns began to heal. Cap signaled to Sasquatch that there were three move in that jet.

Even though he hesitated at first, Protector was soon in the jet helping Cap and Walter pull out the other three members of Omega Fight. All three were in had condition but would live as would Puck. Protector turned to everyone as he received a signal from Ghost Girl.

"Team Alpha, we need to move. Deadpool isn't far from here and Weapon Superior's men have just engaged him," Protector said.

"James, we have to get Puck and the others to a hospital," Walter said.

"They'll be fine. Ambulances are on their way and they're not in that bad of condition. We need to move now," Protector said.

"James, I don't even know you anymore. Department H has become your obsession and it's not only hurting you but the ones you're suppose to care about. I'm done, Mac," Walter said as he bent down and picked up Puck.

"What are you saying, Walter?" Protector asked his hairy friend.

"Before joining your team I was given a job offer at a university. I turned them down to stand by you, but I can't do that no more. You're endangering too many lives. I'll see to Puck and the others and then I'm gone. I quit," Sasquatch said as he heads away from Team Alpha.

"Fine be that way! Team Alpha, move!" Protector shouts as he leads his team onto their jet.

"Walter," Cap called out.

Walter turned around, "Cap, go with them. They'll be needing you. I can handle this. Take care."

Cap saluted the man and then ran towards the jet.

_**Interlude- One**_

"What now? I've failed them," Jared said as he drank his coffee.

Jared was still upset with himself. Someone had made themselves look like Northstar and caused him to let down his guard. The man's face shifted but it was too late. One minute he was looking at a blurred face the next Nemessis was fishing him out of a dumpster. Who ever these men were they had taken both Knapp and Arlette. They were the last and now he had no idea how he was going to find them.

"Cheer up. While you were cleaning up I went back to the attack scene," Nemessis said.

"Find anything?" Jared asked.

"Yes, someone dropped a broken com device. I have a friend that might be able to fix this enough to trace a signal back to its origin," Nemessis said holding up the broken devise.

Jared smiled with wide eyes as Nemessis gabbed his arm and they teleported away.

_**Interlude- Two**_

"Glad you succeeded. Now if you please," the man-like creature said as a figure stepped into the tube.

It had been a long process but they finally had all twelve. He was surprised at how easy it had been to acquire the subjects. The last two were a little tough but in the end they had captured Arlette and Whitman. With the easy part done, the hard part could begin.

With the help of a dreamy queen, he had received the twelve star stones and the DNA of each of the members of Zodiac. He felt a little bad that in order to get the DNA the members had to actually die. Either way he had the two types of ingredients he needed to complete his project.

Each of the twelve was now secured within their own tube with several IV's sticking in them. The IV's pulled their blood out, mixed it with the DNA and then pumped it back in. This continued over and over to insure the mixing was thorough. To each tube, a star stone was attacked to the top. A large cable ran from each stone to a large console.

"Now, it begins," the human-like man laughed as he hit a button on the large console causing each star stone to explode in various colors and power causing those within the tube to scream.

_**In Another Part of the United States – Alpha Flight**_

Ghost Girl watched as Alpha Flight and Deadpool took on a large force of Weapon Superior's men. One of the hard parts was she noticed that Deadpool fired his guns not caring if they were aimed at Superior's men or at Alpha Flight. Vindicator didn't care, just as long as they kept them from taking Deadpool.

"I'm pretty sure Wade can take care of himself. Focus on driving off Weapon Superior's men. If at all, try and capture one, alive" Vindicator said.

"Hey, how about we ditch these guys and go for a drink?" Wade said slapping Diamond Lil on her butt.

"Touch me again and you'll loose that hand," Diamond Lil said.

Lillian didn't know who was the bigger threat, Weapon Superior or Deadpool. Half the time she was trying to keep Wade from killing the ones they were trying to protect him from. She tried getting him to come with them but he refused, unless it was just him and her. Guardian even tried to force him into the Alpha Jet but was blasted back by Wade's gunfire.

While Feedback and Epsilon Flight took on the majority of the Superior warriors, Vindicator and the rest of Alpha Flight tried to keep them from Deadpool and to convince him to come with them. Diamond Lil was the only one safe enough to get real close to him since her skin was diamond hard and was tougher for him to kill.

"Where are they going?" Major Mapleleaf asked.

"I don't know," Aurora responded as the group she was fighting retreated.

"I tapped into their radio frequency. Appears that they have captured Maverick and no longer are in need of Deadpool," Feedback said.

"How can that be? Omega Flight, report," Guardian asked into his comm.

"Guardian, this is Madam Q. We received interference from Team Alpha. Not only did they allow them to get away but Protector put four members of Omega Flight in the hospital including Puck," Madam Q Reported.

"Is Puck going to be okay," Heather asked in freight.

"I think so. We left them behind and are in pursuit of Maverick. They are traveling at super speeds so they have a large lead on us but I have a track on them. Word from the Director is that Sasquatch had help bring them in for medical care. The rest of Team Alpha is not too far from your location," Madam Q said.

"They'll pay for this. Be careful and don't engage till we can meet up with you," Guardian said as he turned to see the area empty, except for his team and Deadpool.

"What was he thinking?" Heather asked to Diamond Lil.

"I don't know, Heather. You know things haven't been good for him," Lillian said not knowing what to say.

"Look, we've got company," Feedback said as Team Alpha landed.

"Look's like they got Cap on their side. Good thing you guys have me," Deadpool said putting his arm around Diamond Lil.

"Heather, how's the situation?" Cap said as Deadpool went flying over his head.

"We kept them from getting Deadpool, which might have been a mistake. They retreated after receiving word that Maverick had been obtained," Heather said.

"We need go after them," Protector said coming up behind Cap.

"You need to get out of here. Because of you I have four men in the hospital," Guardian shouted.

"That's enough!" Heather shouted as Cap stepped between the two.

"Hey guys, I'm receiving a communication," Feedback said as he brought out a device and a picture came to life.

"Greetings, Alphans," Weapon Superior's image said.

"What is he up to?" Earthmover asked as Cap silenced him.

"As you may not know, while you were fighting for Deadpool, I have obtained the rest of what I was looking for," Weapon Superior said.

"He must mean the other Weapons, but I wonder how he accomplished all that?" Vindicator wondered.

"I wanted to inform you that you have lost. Your attack force was countered. At dawn I will execute them all and then launch my attack on Department H," Weapon Superior said as he showed an image of shackled prisoners and then vanished.

"They have Madam Q and Omega Flight," Heather said to Guardian.

"That's not all they have. In the commotion we forgot about someone," Snowbird said referring to the image of the girl with Omega Flight.

"Ghost Girl! I almost forgot she was here. She must have snuck aboard one of their jets when they retreated," Earthmover said.

"Yes, and thanks to her she was able to send a transmission. I know where Weapon Superior is holding them," Protector said.

"Give them up so we can go after them," Guardian shouted.

"Never, Team Alpha can handle this," Protector shouted back.

"That's enough, Mac. Haven't you done enough?" Captain America glared at Protector.

"Caps right. If were going to take down Weapon Superior, we're going to have to work together," Heather said as the two James's glared at each other as Cap and Vindicator started devising a plan.

_**Epilogue**_

In a flash of light a figure appears in a wooded area. He is badly wounded and has third degree burns on most of his body. He looks at his watch and sees he has made it. There's still time to stop it from happening. He has to move fast or it may be too late.

"I have to warn Alpha Flight. The Storm is coming," the man says out loud as he looks around to get his bearings.

"Now why would you want to do something like that," a man within the shadow of the woods says.

"Who's there?" the man says into the woods.

"That doesn't matter, what matters is putting an end to you, Gardner Monroe," the shadowed figure says as he shoots Flashback with a bean that paralyzes him.

"Do what you want, I'll just time jump again until I warn Alpha Flight of the future," Flashback said.

"Oh, you think I haven't thought of that?" the man said throwing a tied up figure onto the ground.

"Oh no," Flashback said as he saw this time's Flashback lying on the ground.

"You see, by killing you in the present will cause you to cease to exist. As of this moment, Flashback is no more," the man in the shadows says as he fires a blast at the tied up Flashback.

As the present day Flashback dies the future Flashback vanishes from existence. The man laughs as he suddenly doesn't remember why he's laughing, why he had killed the man on the ground or why he was in the woods. All he knows is that the Storm will come.

**Next: Issue #10 – Weapon Plus – Part Four**

**Note: **Want to know more of where Walter, the man known as Sasquatch is going? Check out his further adventures in Wild Pack starting with issue #9


	11. Weapon Plus Part Four

**Alpha Squads**

**Issue #10 – Weapon Plus – Part Four**

_**Department H**_

Director X slammed his fist down on his desk. On the monitor in front of him was the image of Alpha Flight and Team Alpha with Captain America. He wasn't happy with how things were turning out. First a disc turns up with information on the whole Weapon Plus program throughout the years. This information would be valuable to who ever found it so he sent out Omega Flight to retrieve it. An easy task he thought would be accomplished if not for one thing, Weapon Superior.

He had no idea who this new player was but he took down Omega Flight, putting their leader Puck in intensive care and taking the disc for himself. Now it appeared that he has been using the disc to locate subjects of the different programs and acquiring them for his own evil agenda. It became clear Weapon Superior would be a direct threat to Department H if he succeeded so this time he sent Alpha Flight, Omega Flight and Epsilon Flight to put a stop to this. This time his teams failed due to Weapon Superior AND Team Alpha.

Because of Team Alpha getting in the way, Weapon Superior required his subjects, was able to capture Madam Q and most of Omega Flight while the other four members of Omega Flight were placed in serious condition, including Puck again. He didn't know what bothered him more, Team Alpha, Weapon Superior or the fact once again Puck and his team have failed.

He wanted to believe it was just poor training or coincidence that Puck always ends up injured and leading Omega Flight to failure. Madam Q felt like he was holding back, especially when Team Alpha arrives on the scene. He had worked hard to make the new Department H better and different from it's evil past incarnations and didn't want to start doubting his staff now. He didn't have time for this, so for now, he would keep a close eye on Puck. Right now, he had more serious things to worry about.

Weapon Superior had made three threats. One, he had required all fifteen weapons. Two, he was going to execute Omega Flight at dawn and three; he was planning an all out assault against Department H. He couldn't afford that right now, Gamma Flight were all way too underage, Beta Flight was nowhere near being trained enough for battle and Z Fight wasn't quite ready. If it came down to it, Beta and the remaining Epsilon would have to bide time till Z Flight was ready.

To avoid this scenario, he would have to rely on Alpha Flight and Team Alpha to work together. As much as he didn't like it, he couldn't afford to lose Department H right now. He knew both teams would succeed and when Weapon Superior went down his mean would get the disc before Team Alpha could. Who knows, maybe the outcome might make some of Protector's men come back into the fold.

"Sir?" Guardian and Vindicator images asked again.

"Sorry, was in deep thought. I agree with Captain America, we have no choice but to work with Team Alpha. Weapon Superior must be stopped, not just because or the treat to Department H but to Canada and the rest of the world. This will be our chance to show the good Department H can do," Director X said

"We don't need them," Protector mumbled.

"Mac," Heather began to say, her temper flaring.

"Heather, let me," Captain America said turning to Mac and placing he hand on his shoulder.

"Cap," Mac started to say.

"Listen, soldier, what ever issue you have with them needs to be put aside. Already good people have been hurt and more lives are at stake. If we don't work together people will die, both teammates and friends that have been captured by Weapon Superior. What do you say? Can you show how super heroic Team Alpha can be, that you can be?" Captain said with a smile.

"Okay, how do we find them?" Mac said stepping up to the view screen by Heather and his clone.

"Before Madam Q was captured, she was able to setup a signal. Thanks to Doc Brown we were able to get a trace and we know were they are," Director X said.

"What are we waiting for? Let's do this," Rebound shouted.

_**Secret Hideout of Weapon Superior**_

Jeeves walked up to his master, Niles or Weapon Superior as he liked to call himself these days. Niles had just placed himself in his new suit that he had been working ever since he hatched his plan against Weapon Plus and Department H. A part of Jeeves wondered if Niles has taken is vengeance for his parent's deaths too far. As his loyal servant, he shook the thoughts away and happily served his master's wishes.

"Jeeves, all has come into place. Soon I'll move into the next phase of my plan," Weapon Superior said.

"Yes, sir but what if Alpha Flight finds us here and stops you?" Jeeves asked.

"Oh, they'll find us. Why else did I bait them with the capture of their teammates and allow them to trace our location. I want them to come," Weapon Superior laughed.

"You do?" Jeeves said getting nervous.

"Yes, my plan has several phases. The first two were requiring the disc and obtaining Weapons Zero thru Fifteen, which I've done. The next phase is to truly become Weapon Superior with my Weapon Plus team and destroy Alpha Flight," Weapon Superior said as his suit was completed and he walked out of the chamber.

"You want Alpha Flight dead?" Jeeves asked handing Niles his head piece.

"Yes, Alpha Flight is connected to Department H and all things associated with Department H and Weapon Plus must be destroyed. With Alpha Flight dead, it'll make taking Department H that much easier," Weapon Superior laughed.

"Very good, sir," Jeeves said as he followed his master to a view screen of all fifteen weapons.

"Is Weapon Plus ready?" Weapon Superior asked knowing Alpha Flight would be here soon.

"Yes, master. As you instructed we ignored the third installment of the Weapon X program and did nothing with it," Jeeves said.

"Yes, Mr. Cord's version of Neverland wasn't really part of the whole Weapon Plus program. I'll deal with that during the end phase. What I'm more concerned is the secret branch of the program called the World. The branch that created eleven thru fifteen before it was destroyed along with my mother," Weapon Superior said gritting his teeth.

"Native has been used for Weapon Ten with success. Even though thought dead, we found were they had hid the body of Weapon Eleven, the Hound. He was actually still alive, barely, and we were able to revive him completely. Weapon Twelve, Huntsman is truly dead and gone. But using the info from your disc we were able to recreate him using Maverick as the new Weapon Twelve.

"Weapon Thirteen, Fantomex was required but proved difficult. Thanks to the disc and weapon you created were able to take him out. The blast severed the tie with E.V.A. and badly damaged her but she got away," Jeeves said.

"Doesn't matter. Now severed, if she can repair herself, she'll never find Fantomex. I'll get her during the end phase. What about the last two?" Weapon Superior asked as he attached his headpiece.

"Hidden deep I the ground where the World used to be we found the secret chamber. In side were a thousand chamber eggs holding Weapon Fourteen, the cloned children of Emma Frost. Using the info from the disc we did as you asked and detonated the Psi-Wave Bomb killing all of them but one," Jeeves said.

"I hated killing them all but it was the only way to severe the link so Emma and the Cuckoos would never sense or find out about them. I would rather have one good subject over Emma and the Cuckoos finding out and bring the whole X-Men down on us. My plans can not be delayed like that," Weapon Superior said.

"On the plus side, when they all died their psychic essences were sucked into the one living subject. Weapon Fourteen is truly the Thousand-In-One," Jeeves said as his master eyes lit up. "As you know, Weapon Fifteen died with the World but we were able to recreate Ultimaton using Sluggo," Jeeves finished.

"Excellent! Finalize the mind wipe and control and get them topside. Company is almost here," Weapon Superior smiled as he looked at a reading on another monitor and then headed out of the room.

_**Los Angeles – GroundFlight Industries**_

A man was sitting at his desk looking over the numbers with his wife and business partner when two figures appeared out of thin air. The man jumped to his feet while putting his wife behind him. He may not be in top form but he was still fit for a man his age and he would protect his wife at all costs. He quickly grabbed his letter opener and held it as a weapon.

"Sean, stop. It's me, Amelia," Nemessis said.

"Amelia, what a pleasant surprise," the woman said smiling.

"Hi, Jodi. I don't have much time but someone is attacking Flight members and we need you two to help me find them," Nemessis said holding out the devise she had found.

"I don't know. Sean, we can't get involved," Jodi said to her husband.

"It's a little too late for that, I'm already involved," Sean said picking up the devise.

"What are you talking about? Who's this guy?" Jared asked Nemessis.

"This is Sean Bernard and his wife Jodi. They were members of First Flight, the prototype team before Alpha Flight and the other Flights had been born. They've been like parents to me," Nemessis said.

"That's right, I remember the old files. You were Groundhog and she was Stitch. So how are you involved in all this?" Jared asked.

"I built and gave James his new Protector suit," Sean said as Jodi glared at him.

"Why would you do that? What's in it for you to help James out?" Jared asked remembering the files said they had never been great friends.

"Because, for the suit, he agreed to take my daughter in and join his team," Jodi said with tension in her voice.

"You're daughter? Who?" Jared asked as his curiosity peeked.

"Story for another time, Jared. Time's running out," Nemessis said pointing at the devise in Sean's hand. "Can you find the home of the source that transmits to that devise?"

"Yes, we can," Sean said nodding at his wife.

_**Island in the South Seas**_

Two ships dropped out of the cloudy sky and began their decent towards the small island below followed by a few other ships containing Feedback and members of Epsilon Flight. The two main ships held the two Alpha teams. One held the members of Alpha Flight; Vindicator, Guardian, Aurora, Major Mapleleaf and Diamond Lil. The other ship had Captain America and the members of Team Alpha; Protector, Rebound, Snowbird, Silver-Auric Earthmover and Switch. All ships were in stealth mode and Weapon Superior wouldn't even know what hit him.

"We're closing in, how do you want to run this, Cap?" Heather asked as both Guardian and Protector took offence at the oversight of who was leader of the two teams.

"I think Epsilon should engage directly while Team Alpha and I go after Weapon Superior and you take Alpha Flight in to find and rescue your members of Omega Flight and Ghost Girl," Captain America said.

"Sounds good. Too bad Deadpool wouldn't come with us. We could've used his help," Heather said.

"Actually he's a bit too unstable to count on. Plus, I think we are better off without his kind of help," Captain America said.

"Okay, teams, let's do this. They won't know we're here till it's too late," Guardian said.

"Danger, I sense death," Snowbird screamed suddenly getting one of her pre-cog flashes.

Everyone jumped at the scream to suddenly see dozens of powerful beams heading right at them from the island below. Captain America and Vindicator dodged just in time as another blast nicked Feedback's ship causing him to work a little to gain control again. Unfortunately, to of the Epsilon ships were hit by the beams and blown to a million pieces. All remaining ships went to evasive maneuvers as dozens of beams continued to come at them.

"I don't believe it. Our cloaking has been jammed. They were expecting us," Protector shouted.

"How's your ship, Albert?" Guardian asked over the radio.

"Was a close call but we're doing fine for now," Feedback answered back.

"Feedback, you lead the rest of Epsilon directly at the base below. Hit them with all you've got and keep them occupied. Heather, follow me. Time to ditch the ships and storm the base," Vindicator said.

As Epsilon engaged the bases defenses, Team Alpha and Alpha Flight flew down and landed the ships. Both teams darted from their ships and ran at the base. They were immediately met by dozens of Weapon Soldiers. Cap lead the charge as blasts bounced of his shield. They knew they had to make it in the base before it was too late for their friends.

"Flyers, go for the base and take out the cannons and soldiers on the roof. We can handle the ground troops," Captain America said.

"Who put him in charge?" Protector mumbled to himself as he took flight.

"Probably the only thing we'll ever agree on," Guardian said jetting past him and taking out a cannon on the side of the base.

Joining Protector and Guardian in the air was Snowbird, Silver-Auric, Vindicator, Aurora and Major Mapleleaf on his flying horse. Captain America led Earthmover, Switch and Diamond Lil against the foot soldiers. Most had to agree, when working together the Alpha teams were a force to reckon with. The Weapon Soldiers didn't stand a chance.

What soldiers weren't mowed down by Cap and Diamond's strength was taken down by Earthmovers magic or Switch's battle dance of swords. The shear force of the sky assault alone not only took out all the bases cannons but made short work of the few soldiers on the roof tops. Before long the Weapon Soldiers were no longer visible as both teams made it to the bases front doors. They would have charged on but they all were brought to a sudden stop.

"That will be far enough," a voice shouted as a figure walked up to the edge of the roof looking down at all members of the Alpha Teams.

Everyone looked up to see Weapon Superior and his servant Jeeves. Weapon Superior waved his hand and a giant platform rose up from the rooftop to show six figures bound in giant glass tubes. They could tell immediately it was Madam Q and the rest of Omega Flight. Everyone turned to Cap and Vindicator to see what they would do.

"Let them go," Vindicator Shouted.

"Give up now if you know what's best," Protector shouted taking a step forward.

"Not an inch closer or I they die. You're in no position to make demands. Oh who am I kidding? Do it!" Weapon Superior said to Niles.

Everyone screamed as the six tubes lit up and the people inside were engulfed in pure energy. When the light vanished the tubes were empty. Weapon Superior had disintegrated the members of Omega Flight.

"You evil son of a," Guardian began to shout.

"That does it. Gloves are off time to end this," Protector said powering up his suit.

"Guys, look!" Diamond Lil shouted.

They all looked as seven shapes began to phase up from the ground in front of them. It was Ghost Girl and all members of Omega Flight holding hands and alive. As soon as all seven of them were above ground they let go of hands and everyone became solid.

"Ghost Girl, are we all glad to see you," Earthmover said.

"We didn't realize you hadn't been taken," Protector said.

"I kept myself hidden and waited for the right moment. Phasing everyone like that has left me pretty weak," Ghost Girl said barely keeping her footing.

"You think you've won? Wait till you meet Weapon Plus," Weapon Superior said as fifteen figures stepped up beside him.

They all saw people they knew and some they didn't know. From left to right was Protocide, Josiah X, a reptile looking creature, a bird, an ape, a man of Chinese origin, a man of Hispanic, Nuke, Steel Fist, Typhoid Mary, Native, Hound, Maverick, Fantomex, Thousand-in-one and Sluggo. They could tell they had all been altered and were under some kind of mind control. Weapon Superior smiled and laughed when he saw the looks on his opponents faces.

"The whole Weapon Plus project is basically standing in front of us," Protector said to Captain America.

"We can take them," Guardian said.

"Oh, you all misunderstand. You may have saved your teammates but you will now meet your ends. I didn't go to all this trouble to create a Weapon Plus team for you to battle. The only way to destroy Weapon Plus program is to become the Weapon Plus program. Behold, the true ultimate weapon. I give you Weapon Superior!" Weapon Superior shouted as he threw the infamous Weapon Plus disc in the air.

Jeeves pressed a button on a devise and a multicolored beam hit the disc suspending it in the air causing it to glow bright. A split second later fifteen beams of light shot from the disc hitting each of the fifteen weapon subjects. Each one screamed in agony as they were turned into pure energy. Then, in the next second, the disc and the fifteen globes of energy shot at and were absorbed completely into Weapon Superior. When the light faded, only Jeeves and Weapon Superior were left.

"Josiah!" Captain America shouted at the death of his old friend's son.

"You murderer!" Vindicator shouted.

Weapon Superior smiled. We looked at felt completely new. He was now one with his suit and the disc will all of the Weapon Plus program and al fifteen subjects were now fused into him. He felt great and knew he was unstoppable. Now he had the power to stop Alpha Flight and destroy Department H.

"Now, once I put you all down I can move on to Department H," Weapon Superior smiled.

"So you destroy Department H. What does that solve? What next?" Captain America asked.

"Oh, it is revenge for that program being the death of my parents. Once Department H is taken down then I will go into my final phase of the plan. Hunt down any loose ends of Weapon Plus, Weapon X, and anyone that has ever been a member of the Flight programs," Weapon Superior said as he launched himself at the heroes.

Cap ran at him with his shield. Superior grabbed the shield and tossed it and the man holding on to it, clear up onto the roof. Protector, Guardian and Vindicator flew at him letting of their suit's powers. The blasts seemed to bounce off the evil weapon as he held his hands out at the three. A powerful energy pulse shot out from his hands sending the three flying backwards. Switch landed in front of him and looked him in the eyes.

"You'll find that not only can't you switch places with me you cant swap my powers. For my eyes are shielded," Superior laughed as his fingers became blade like and sliced open her stomach and tossed her to the side.

Silver-Auric flew up and sent a blast at Weapon Superiors arm freezing it then sending another blast melting it right off. Weapon Superior laughed as he looked at his missing arm. In a matter of moments it began to grow back. He then leapt into the air and released a powerful blast hitting Silver-Auric and blasting her down into the ground.

"He killed her," Ghost Girl cried when she got to Silver-Auric's side and checked her pulse.

"We have to take him down and fast. Omega Flight Attack," Madam Q commanded.

Persuasion, Witchfire, Bile, Braindrain, and Ms Mass charged Weapon Superior. Braindrain pushed out with his powers to take his mind. Something beeped within Superior as his he flipped in the air and landed behind Braindrain. He grabbed the Omega Flight member's head and snapped it killing him. He then punched Ms Mass sending her flying back as he fired off another pulse wave that sent Persuasion and Witchfire onto their backs. Bile stared in shock as Weapon Superior's fingers became daggers and tore his throat out.

Vindicator and Protector came flying back. Powering up their suits they sent off a series of powerful blasts. Weapon Superior smiled as they seemed to have little effect on him. Captain America came up form behind and slammed his shield down on the man's head. Weapon Superior hit the ground hard and lay there for a moment before turning around and firing off another pulse blast. Cap moved the shield in front to take the impact as the wave sent him flying upwards.

Weapon Superior jumped to his feet just as Vindicator and Protector reached him. He flipped and grabbed Vindicator by the leg. Using his enhanced strength and pulse wave he flung Heather with great might into the side of the base causing a section of the wall to come down on her. Protector turned and screamed out her name as Weapon Superior grabbed him by the head and slammed his face down into his knee. Protector hit the ground hard. He could feel the blood flowing from his nose.

Major Mapleleaf flew down upon his winged steed heading right for Weapon Superior. Weapon Superior sent a pulse wave knocking him of his horse. With great speed, Superior was on top of the horse using his sharp dagger fingers to severe the wings from its body. Major Maple cried in grief and he saw his great steed hit the ground. He felt his powers fade as did his horse's life.

"Your tricks end now," Guardian said flying at him.

"Oh, I've just begun. I'm now the embodiment of all fifteen weapons. I am the ultimate weapon," Weapon Superior said as he landed behind the grieving Major.

Major turned looking into what passed as Weapon Superiors eyes. Beams shot out from Superior's eyes and into his eyes. Suddenly he felt a form of psi power flow as his brain began to fry. Guardian hit Superior with a blast breaking the connection. Major Mapleleaf's eyes rolled back as he fell to the ground. Guardian came back around to find Weapon Superior directly in front of him.

Guardian stuck out his arm and prepared to fire when Superior grabbed his arm and sliced down with the other. Guardian screamed as he fell one direction as his arm went another. Guardian grabbed where his arm used to be and fired off a powerful blast to close the wound so he wouldn't bleed to death.

"We're dropping like flies," Protector said through what he knew was a broken nose. "I have a plan," he finished as he barked instructions.

Aurora sent off a blast of her light powers blinding Weapon Superior. Wile distracted, Earthmover ran up and reached into his pouch and pulled out some dust and threw it on him. Weapon Superior screamed as he placed the palm of his hands near Earthmover's face and fired off a point blank pulse wave. Chuck stood his ground until all the dust was thrown and the spell was cast. When done, Chuck collapsed to the ground.

Moving quickly before he readjusted, Snowbird became a giant white Sasquatch as she and Captain America pile drives him with two super strong punches. Weapon Superior fell to the ground. What ever Earthmover had thrown on him had dampened his powers. He could barely move from the impact of those punches. He tried to get up when two hands pinned him to the ground.

"Don't try anything. My skin is unbreakable, so you can't hurt me," Diamond Lil said trying to hold back her full anger for what this man had done.

"And I have my hand around your heart, which I can make intangible at any moment putting an end to you," Ghost Girl said with tears in her eyes.

"It's over," Captain America said as he and Protector stood over the man.

"For now, but I'll be back. Giles!" Weapon Superior screamed as his servant pressed a button causing himself and Weapon Superior to vanish.

"He got away," Protector swore.

"For now, but at least we stopped him working together as a team. I'll put a call into S.H.E.I.L.D. and have them come clean this place up. Where ever he went, he won't be able to hide for long. Now we tend to our own," Captain America said looking upon the battlefield and its victims.

_**Epilogue**_

A man in his office shut off the viewing screen swearing at what he was watching. He was about place a call when he felt a strange presence. He turned around to see a dark figure looking at him from within a reflective picture on the wall. He stood up as sweat formed upon his brow.

"Master?" the man questioned.

"The time is coming where I'll need to call upon you. The storm is approaching and I need everything to fall into place. Nothing can go wrong," the dark figure said.

"Don't worry, master. I have everything under control," the man stuttered.

"You better," the dark figure said as the image vanished.

The man slumped back into his chair and sighed. He turned as he thought he saw something by his door. He looked and saw nothing there. He figured it must be his nerves going into overdrive. He ran back to his desk, he had a lot to deal with and time was running out.

**Next: Issue #11 – Aftermath**


	12. Aftermath

**Alpha Squads**

**Issue #11 – Aftermath**

_**Team Alpha Headquarters**_

"S.H.E.I.L.D. has cleaned the area, but they have still haven't been unable to find any traces of Weapon Superior, the information he got from that disc or the work he had done. He covered his tracks very well," Captain America said.

"Once again, thanks for your help, Steve," sighed James Hudson, the Team Alpha leader known as Protector.

"Sure, just hate that lately it seems I'm getting involved in situations that end in burying comrades," Captain America said with a sadness in his voice.

"I know. I just wish I had made better decisions. Maybe a lot of this could have been avoided or turned out differently," James said staring at the large monitor with Captain America's face on it.

"James, you can't beat yourself up over this. All you can do is learn from this and move on. If you second guess yourself or fall into self pity you won't do yourself any good or your team, especially when they look to you as their leader," Captain America said trying to give words of encouragement.

"I appreciate that and I know you're right. Take care and give my best to Mrs., Bradley," James said as Cap nodded and signed off.

James felt bad for her. Not only did she lose her husband, Isaiah to Weapon Superior but she also lost her son, Josiah. It was a painful loss but at least she still had her grandson, Elijah. The blood transfusion was a success and he was doing fine. Cap said there had been some strange readings from his follow-up tests but nothing to worry about. For now, he would let Elijah and his grandma alone to mourn and take care of each other.

Cap's friends weren't the only ones that had suffered at the hands of Weapon Superior. In the mad man's quest for power and obtain the subjects of Weapon Plus people like Slayback had died. To top it off, Weapon Plus had sacrificed all fifteen subjects to transform him into the ultimate weapon. At his gain they had lost Josiah Bradley along with Protocide, Nuke, Typhoid Mary, Steel Fist, Maverick, Native, Sluggo, Hound, Thousand-In-One and Fantomex. Despite their efforts, Weapon Superior had still managed to get away.

That's what made James the angriest. He got away with little suffering unlike the suffering he had dished out not only to the subjects and the Bradleys but to Alpha Flight and his team, Team Alpha. It had been almost a month since the battle and both teams were dealing with the aftermath. Heather won't say two words to him except for updates on her team, but those mostly came in recorded messages or from his friend Puck.

Puck was still upset that his plane went down, but he did not hold any ill will towards James. He was just upset he hadn't been there for the final battle and able to protect his teammates and friends from Weapon Superior's wrath. Luckily, he and the other three in the jet, Sinew, Strongarm and Tech-Noir had survived and would be perfectly fine, even though Strongarm now had two cybernetic arms. The rest of Omega Flight hadn't been so lucky.

Two members had been killed in battle with Weapon Superior. Bile had his throat torn out while Brain Drain's neck had been snapped. Ms Mass, even though she's alive and it's been almost a month, has lost the use of her legs. When Weapon Superior had punched her, he had injected a dart from his fist and into her. The small dart exploded sending a current to her spine and frying the nerves rendering her paralyzed from the waist down. Puck says they're working on helping her.

As for the last two members, Persuasion and Witchfire, they had been hit by some kind of pulse wave from Weapon Superior. A body scan had revealed that when the pulse wave had hit them it had injected them with millions of nanites designed to fuse with their DNA and shutting off a person's access to their powers. Witchfire was able to use her powers to purge them from her system but it had left her weakened. In time, her powers might grow back to full strength. As for Persuasion, she had lost her powers, refused Departments H's help and quit.

Alpha Flight had taken some hits. Guardian had lost an arm, but being a clone they had been able to replicate and give him a new arm. Luckily, Heather came out with some bruises and a couple cracked ribs but nothing deadly serious. Their worst hit was the loss of one of their own, Lou Sadler the Alphan known as Major Mapleleaf and his horse. Weapon Superior had killed his horse and did something to his brain leaving him a vegetable. According to Puck, the Director is doing what he can to help him, if he can.

James felt bad for them all, but Alpha Flight wasn't the only team to be affected by the battle with Weapon Superior. His own team, Team Alpha had been hit pretty hard too. James had been one of the luckiest. He got off with a broken nose which was pretty much healed already. Snowbird and Rebound had made it out with only a few bruises here and there but the rest of the team hadn't been so lucky.

Switch had been wounded pretty badly. Weapon Superior had sliced open her stomach. She would have died if she hadn't swapped powers with Witchfire and was able to close the wound. She had spent a few weeks in the hospital but was back with the team and ready to go, even if she wasn't. She's tough and proud, so she refuses to sit back or inform her father what had happened. She's ready, case closed.

They had feared they had lost Silver-Auric when Weapon Superior had blasted them. When they had checked for a pulse, none could be found. Then they were surprised when on the flight back, Silver-Auric came out of the cargo section. It seemed that Silver-Auric had been phasing into separate personalities. When the blast had hit them, Auric was in sole control and had been killed. They had found a strange shell resembling Auric leaving Jimon Kwon and Hedison behind as Silver.

Earthmover's face had been severely burned while helping take out Weapon Superior. Just like Sasquatch, Chuck Moss had quit the team. Director X had made promises of being able to give him the medical care he needed to fix his face in turn for his joining Alpha Flight. Ghost Girl, Lilli had also decided to leave. She didn't like what she had become during that fight and choose to go with Chuck. James had asked them not to go, but there wasn't anything he could say to stop them. James was doing his best not to hold any hard feelings, but it was tough. This had been the team he had put together.

Now he was down to four members and one of them had lost a part of themselves along with that power. He wasn't sure what he should do. His team was down but yet he knew he couldn't let Department H take control of Canada. He felt it in his gut something was not right there. He felt that even more after the call he got a call almost two weeks ago. It was Puck finally calling when he had a private moment. Not only did he want to give him an update on his team's condition but he had other reasons for his call.

Puck had overheard Director X talking to someone. He couldn't make out who or what he was talking about but he had a bad feeling and now believes James was right in keeping an eye out. For now he didn't want to say anything until he investigated further. He made James promise not to say anything to anyone else till he heard more from Puck. The main reason for that was the next shocking news.

"Puck had reason to believe there was a traitor amongst Team Alpha. He didn't know who, but he did know that Director X was getting information that seemed to be coming form someone on Team Alpha. So from this moment on, James could not confide or talk too freely with anyone on his team until Puck could figure out whom. James also promised not to do anything that might jeopardize Puck. For now James would just keep close watch on everyone and trust no one except one, Persuasion.

Puck had informed him that Kara Killgrave would be coming to join Team Alpha. Kara had approached Puck a few times about concerns about things at Department H. She couldn't put her finger on it but she had a strange feeling. After seeing how intense the Director wanted to experiment on her to figure out her condition with the nanites, Puck encouraged Kara to quit and go see James. With a spy, there were some fears so they had come up with a plan.

James had called an old friend of his and asked for a favor. His friend almost said no sense he was busy with another project and was going to go off the radar for awhile but for his own reasons felt this was necessary and made the time. He built a purple armored suit that would tap into her suppressed powers and much like the Controller's powers, would allow her to control things for brief periods of time. He had promised that when he got back, he would look more into Kara's condition. So Kara's identity was only known to James while everyone else just thought she was a new male member named Commander.

James stared at the blank monitor where Cap's image had just been moments ago. His team had been broken down but he was building it back up. He just had to find a way to not let himself get consumed by his feelings for Department H and Alpha Flight. If he didn't, next time he may not have a team left to build up at all.

"James, everyone's ready in the training room," Commander said beeping in on the intercom.

"I'm on my way," James said as he got up and readied to start again.

_**Alpha Flight Headquarters**_

"How're you doing?" Eugene asked as he walked into Heather Hudson's room.

Heather smiled as she sat up in her bed. She still had bandages around her chest to help support her healing ribs. After carefully adjusting she was able to see very short Puck better. She waved him in and he walked over and pulled up a chair beside her bed. He hated to see her like this but he was thankful she was okay.

"I'm doing great. I think it'll be awhile before they let me back into the field," Heather said.

"Hey, at least you get to go back in the field. For now, I'm stuck on monitor duty when Omega Flight goes out on a mission. Madam Q will be leading them onsite from now on. Seems like I've lost too many battles," Puck sighed.

"I really tried to fight for you but Madam Q got her way. I still think it was a good idea not to replace the members you lost and keep it a smaller and tighter team," Heather said.

"Yeah, I guess. So, how's Chuck fitting in as the new Gamma Flight leader?" Eugene asked.

"Okay I guess. The kids are still having trouble with the fact that Sadler's gone. It'll take time, but they'll get along just fine," Heather said.

"Any word on Sadler? I can't get anything out of the Director or Madam Q," Puck said.

"Nothing but they're doing their best to restore his mind," Heather said.

"That's good to hear. He may have been annoying but he was a good kid," Eugene said.

"Yes and I feel bad about steeling Chuck from James to replace him," Heather said.

"Yeah, James's team took a hard hit losing three members, four if you count Auric," Puck said.

"Well, he knows things would be better if they'd all just work with us but he insists on keeping up his cause against us. Oh well, can't be that bad for him. Director said that they got a new member, but no one seems to know ho he is or where he came from," Heather said causing Puck to choke a little.

"James never said anything about a new member. Wonder how X got is intel?" Puck said eyeing Heather.

"Don't know, but we better get going. Staff meeting is in a few minutes," Heather said as Puck jumped up to help his old friend to her feet.

"Are you sure you should be getting out of bed?" Eugene asked

"You know I'm tougher than that," Heather smirked as she winced with pain.

After a few minutes they both headed off to the Director's conference room.

_**Los Angeles – GroundFlight Industries**_

"Nemessis, this is ridiculous. It's been almost a month since we came here for their help. God only knows what's happened to my brother and the others," Jared said pacing.

"Patience. Something came up that Sean had to attend to. He said it was important that he had to get that done first," Nemessis said.

"This is so unlike you," Jared said.

"Sorry, they have been like parents to me and I guess my one soft and weak spot," Amelia said sighing.

"Greetings," Sean said as he and his wife came trough the door.

"Hi, Sean, Jodi," Nemessis said smiling.

"So, did you track the signal?" Jared said impatiently.

"We weren't able to locate who was sending the signal, but we came up with something better," Sean said holding up a small device.

"What is it?" Nemessis asked.

"We couldn't get the location but we were able to create a teleporting devise. I finally have it perfected. It'll take us right to the source," Jodi said.

"Us?" Jared and Nemessis asked.

"Since we don't know where this will take you, me and Jodi will be going with you," Sean said.

"You can't do that. It might be too dangerous," Nemessis said.

"Hey, we've done the hero thing long before you two were born," Jodi said as she removed her robe revealing her old Stitch costume and placing on her mask.

"A little back up never hurts, plus I built the devise," Sean laughed as instantly he was encased in his new Groundhog battle suit.

"I don't know about this," Nemessis said.

"It doesn't matter. As long as we get going before we lose my brother forever," Jared started swearing.

"Okay, let's do this," Nemessis finally agreed.

"Okay, everyone join hands," Jodi said.

They all held hands forming a circle. Groundhog then pushed a button on the devise and suddenly they were surrounded in a bright glowing light. In a flash the light faded and they had vanished. Moments later they appeared in a dark room. Motioning for everyone to stay quiet ground hog ignited his suit with a light so they could all see. Jared gasped as he saw twelve figures incased in glass.

"It seems we have visitors," a voice came from behind them.

They turned to see a beast like figure shifting in the shadows. Its eyes glowing in the dark. The beast grinned baring its white sharp teeth.

"Too bad you won't be staying long," the beast-like figure laughed as it moved between the glass cages and the uninvited guests.

_**Epilogue**_

"You know what to do?" the voice said form the other end of the phone.

"Yes, but I don't like it," the caller said.

"You don't have to like it. Just do it. It is crucial for the Storm that this must be done," the voice from the other end said.

"Don't worry, it'll be done," the caller said.

"It better. My agents have already placed the devises through out the rest of the city. If we fail, my master will not take kindly," the voice on the other end said.

"Yes, sir," the caller said then hanging up.

The figure hung up the phone and then began moving quickly and silently all through the basement levels of Team Alpha Headquarters placing devices everywhere. Once they had all been placed, the figure sighed and quickly left the basement and went to bed. It was a long night and it would be longer once the Storm arrived. The figure shivered and then began to cry, as much as the guilt set in, this had to be done. There really was no choice in the matter. Team Alpha would have to burn with the rest of Canada.

**NOTE: The Storm is Coming. See my profile for more details.**


	13. Secrets

**Alpha Squads**

**Issue #12 – Secrets**

_**Unknown Laboratory – Ground Flight**_

Radius stood there trying to get his bearings. A lot has happened in a short amount of time. It all started with him heading out to help his brother, Adrian to find his apartment trashed and him missing. He did find his old Alpha Flight teammate Murmur there responding to a distress call from Adrian. From there they discovered a note and a conspiracy of Flight members vanishing. This lead them to cross paths with Nemessis, who had also been part of the Flight program and was also investigating after the death of her lover, Yukon Jack.

After teaming up and a run in at where Whitman Knapp worked, Nemessis and Radius found themselves alone and Murmur and Manikin having been taken. They found a device and headed to Ground Flight Industries for help from Jodi and Sean Bernard. Not only were the Bernard's like god parents to Nemessis, but they had been part of Department H's pilot team, Fist Flight as Groundhog and Stitch. Sean had found a way to use the device to teleport them to the signals origin. To Nemessis and Radius' surprise, the Bernard's joined them donning costumes again after all this time.

After teleporting the Ground Flight team found themselves in a dark laboratory. On one side of the room were twelve glass tubes holding figures within them. Before they could get a better look, a dark and viscous creature had jumped out of nowhere, placing itself between them and the tubes. His look and threats made it clear that he was going to do severe harm to them. Ground Flight knew that they had to defeat this creature, see who was in those tubes and find out exactly where they were. Only then would they know who was behind the kidnappings and where they were being held.

"Who are you and what have you done with our friends?" Nemessis asked she swung her sword at the creature.

"Not sure who you're referring to but I assure you that you are trespassing and will be punished," the creature said leaping out of the way and swatting her into the wall.

"You will pay for that fowl creature," Groundhog said as he fired off a few blasts form his suit's gauntlets.

The creature dodges with ease and picked up a large chair and threw it at Groundhog. Sean barely moved in time to avoid the chair but was unable to avoid the fast moving creature. The creature landed right in front of him and picked him up by the collar glaring straight into his eyes. Sean now had a good look at the monster. It had sharp teeth and claws and its fur was blue with a very black tint to it. If he knew any better he would have sworn it was Beast of the X-Men if not for the discoloring fur.

"You can call me Doc, and it will be you who pays," the Dark Beast snarled.

Stitch gasped at the sight of her husband in danger. She looked around and saw a pile of small knives on a table across the room. She called forth her powers and yanked on the knives with all her might. The knives flew across the room and implanted themselves in the Dark Beast's back causing him to howl and drop her husband. The beast jumped up into the air and grabbed onto the ceiling as he tried to pull the knives out. Stitch ran up to Sean and helped him up.

"Not only am I out of practice but severely out of shape for this," Sean laughed trying to catch his breath.

"We need to get out of here," Stitch said with worry in her voice.

Radius made his way to the tubes. He noticed that the tubes had labels on each of them. The one in front of him said Cancer. He glanced into the tube and could almost make out the face of the person inside. He got closer and peered inside. He stepped back and stumbled. He couldn't find his voice or his composure.

"That's my," Jared began to say when he was suddenly pushed into the wall with great force. If it weren't for his personal shield, it might have killed him.

The Dark Beast snarled at Jared and then looked over at the other three invaders approaching him. He laughed and jumped over to a table near the twelve tubes. He picked up a devise and pressed a button. The tubes began to open up as smoked swirled out from them. In a matter of seconds the twelve figures came to life and stepped out from their glass gages. Dark Beast snarled and then pointed his fingers at the four Ground Flight members.

"Zodiac, attack!" Dark Beast shouted as the twelve figures ignited with power and overwhelmed the four Flight members.

_**Headquarters Training Room – Team Alpha**_

Protector watched as his team went trough training exercises. They were working well despite their team's roster shake up. They had lost Earthmover and Ghost Girl to Department H and the Auric persona had been killed leaving Silver without one of their powers. Despite that, Silver has gained from the experience. Without the heat powers hindering the other powers, Silver's cold powers are stronger and Hedison's intellect comes through more giving them better ideas of how to use their powers. They had also gained a member, Commander.

Commander was actually Kara Killgrave, the Alphan known as Persuasion. During the battle with Weapon Superior she had been injected with nanites that had merged with her system rendering her powerless. Not trusting Department H, Kara had quit and Puck had helped her get out and secretly join Team Alpha. She wore a purple battle suit that not only made her look male, but gave her powers similar to her old ones. By joining her team, James with the input of old friends of his, had been trying to study a way to get rid of the nanites and get her old powers back. Until then, she battled as Commander never revealing to anyone who was under the suit.

Protector didn't know how long that secret would last but he knew the moment it did, Department H may not like it. James watched as his team battled the training robots. Kara had fallen easily into her new persona and was showing signs of naturally being a leader. James wasn't sure if it was her or if the team was respecting a guy named Commander, either way they were coming together great as a team.

Sliver hovered in the air as a robot approached them. They were about to use their freezing powers when they paused, as if receiving a sudden thought about something. Silver held out their hands and you could see a little but for frost come out. Suddenly the robot stood in place and then hit the ground breaking open. Silver had caused the robot to freeze from the inside out. James thought it was a very impressive move.

Commander shot a blast form her suit and hit a robot. She shouted at it to power down and it did. She then flew near it and knocked it over with a swift punch. She then landed near Switch who had taken down two robots with ease with her swords. Switch then moved closer to the Commander.

"Your armor seems similar in design to that of Protector's battle suit," Swift said eyeing Commander carefully.

"It should. Like Protectors, your father built then one too," Commander said.

"He is not my father," Swift glared at the Commander.

"True, but your mom did may Sean so that makes him your step-father," Commander said teasingly.

Swift didn't like this man. He seemed to know stuff that she didn't want him knowing. Swift also had a feeling there was something Commander was hiding. She knew his powers came from the suit but her instincts told her to test her theory out. Switch made eye contact with Commander and then called forth her powers.

"Look at Switch," Rebound said as everyone stopped to stare.

Switch glanced at her reflection in her sword. Her skin had turned purple. That was odd. She looked back at her teammates and shouted at them to quit staring. A sudden pulse of power went out and she noticed her teammates had all turned purple and had been facing different directions. That clinched it, Commander was not powerless. Switch jumped quickly and great precision knocked the Commander down and ripper of his helmet with her swords.

"Kara?" Snowbird asked.

"Commander's a girl?" Rebound swore feeling suddenly weird.

"What's going on here?" Switch demanded as James ran into the room.

"Guess the secrets out," Kara said looking at James.

"I guess so," James said as he began to explain to the team what was going on.

_**Department H – Team Alpha**_

"Thank you all for coming," Director X said as the members of Alpha Flight entered the room and took their seats opposite the Director and Madam Q.

Puck made eye contact with the Director as he helped Heather take her seat. Puck knew that there was something behind those eyes but he couldn't place it. He finally agreed with Mac that the Director was up to something, but what he didn't know. He knew that there was a spy placed in Team Alpha but he had yet to figure it out. Looking into those eyes he almost felt that the Director knew he knew and that he was also a spy for Mac. He would have to play it safe for awhile.

"Glad you are feeling better, Heather," Director X said taking his eyes from Puck to Heather.

"Yes, ribs are a tad sore but pretty much all healed up," Heather said as she looked at the others around the table.

"We all know we suffered a huge hit from Weapon Superior. Nothing we can do now but move on," Madam Q said.

"Are we just going to let him get away?" Diamond Lil asked.

"No, but we will get him in due time. We have some pressing matters we need to cover today," Madam Q said.

"Madam Q is right; I've some things we need to cover. First, Lou Sadler and his state of health," Director X said.

"Doc Brown is tending to him but he's not sure he'll be able to reverse his bran damage. We thought about bringing in the mystics to give it a try," Madam Q said.

"I'm sure Shaman or Dr. Strange might be of help," Puck said.

"No, I don't want to bother them. Let's try our in house team first and then beg for outside help," Direct X said with a tone that dismissed any more talk.

"On a positive note, our two knew members are fitting in quite well. Lilli has joined Beta Flight and has made great progress in her training and working with the other students," Diamond Lil said as Aurora nodded.

"That's great to hear, and how about our other newest member?" Director X asked looking over at Earthmover.

"Doing great, sir. Beatrice has helped me get familiar with Gamma Flight. I really enjoy working with all those little kids. Feels better than what I used to do," Chuck said trying to sound too happy at taking over Major Mapleleaf's position as leader of Gamma Flight.

"Great to hear, Chuck. I know you'll be a great asset to the children. As you all know some changes have occurred with Omega Flight," Director X said.

"I still think it's unfair to pull Eugene from the team," Heather said.

"Unfair? How many times can we allow his bad decisions to cause failure to his team not to mention his getting injured all the time? How many more lives must be lost?" Madam Q shouted.

"I didn't mean for all that to happen," Puck said growing angry with Madam Q.

"We didn't do it, Weapon Superior did," Heather shouted.

"That's enough!" Director X shouted cutting off Madam Q before she could respond.

"Sorry," Madam Q said glaring at the others across from her.

"Now Madam Q will be leading all team missions while Puck will monitor and give tactical from a desk here at Department H. Ms Mass has been equipped with an exoskeleton to use her legs and will join the other four members of Omega Flight. We will keep the team small and see if that works better," Director X said.

"Yes, and soon we will be going on a covert mission to track down Weapon Superior," Madam Q said.

"What leads do we have?" Puck asked, taken by surprise at the announcement.

"That is classified. You will be filled in when the time is right," Director X said.

"We know he'll come after us eventually. Any plans for Epsilon Flight or added security?" Feedback asked.

"We'll be ready," Guardian spoke up for the first time.

"What are you talking about? Does this have something to do with Northstar's absence?" Heather asked.

"Guardian, would you like to bring in our newest team and last line of defense," Director X smiled.

"May a present to you, Z Flight," Guardian said as a door opened and twelve figures walked in.

Heather and the rest of Alpha Flight stared in amazement. Each of the twelve members of Z Flight wore black suits with a white "Z" on their chest. Each member's boots and gloves matched the color of a stone in their forehead. Heather and Puck recognized every member and were surprised by who they were. First was Northstar who had a black onyx in his forehead. It was clear that he was not only a co-leader of Z Flight but an active member. They glanced down the rest of the team, identifying them.

Plato wore a turquoise turquoise. Windshear had a red diamond. Flex had a silver peril. Double Trouble both wore green moss agate. Wild Child had a gold ruby. Highbrow had a blue sapphire. Marrina wore a sea green moonstone. Killspree had a purple topaz. Wyre had a maroon opal. Apeman had a pink emerald while the last member, Murmur had a green and dark brown sardonyx. It was an amazing sight and Heather was at a loss for words.

"Flex, what made you join this team? I thought you quit this business?" Puck asked the new Z Flight member.

"He doesn't answer to you," Guardian said quickly.

"Guardian, take Z flight out for a training session. The rest of you can watch if you like but I need to take this call," Director X said as a phone buzzed next to him, "We'll finish the rest later."

"Something doesn't seem right with them," Puck said to Heather as they all cleared the room.

"Eugene, you're starting to sound like Mac. Better watch yourself," Heather said.

"I know, sorry. Hey you go along with the others. I need to check on something. I'll catch up with you all later," Eugene said as he doubled back around to the Director's office.

"So, Persuasion has actually joined Team Alpha. I had a feeling about that and I'm not surprised Puck had a part in that," Director X's voice came from behind the door.

Puck was shocked by what he heard and knew that the traitor must be on the phone. Puck cracked the door and peered in to see a face on the monitor. Puck bit his tongue, stopping from giving himself away. The person on the monitor was the last person he thought would betray him or Team Alpha. Puck's face swarmed with tears and anger as he saw his daughter's face upon the monitor talking to the Director.

"Yes, and I believe they are getting ready to make a move on Department H again," Rebound said.

"It doesn't matter. The time has come, carry out your mission now," Director X said as he disconnected the phone line.

Puck ran at top speed and made it to his room. He had to call Mac and fast. Puck tapped his foot as the phone rang. How could Zuzah do that to him? Telling James what was about to happen was hard on him, but it was going to be harder telling him that it was his daughter who was doing it. Finally the phone picked up and a man's voice said hello.

"James, thank God you're there," Puck said gasping for air.

"What's going on?" James asked.

"I know who the traitor is. It's hard to believe but its Rebound. Saw proof with my own eyes. She has been instructed to do something; you need to find her fast. I'm on my way," Puck said as they quickly ended their call.

"Going somewhere?" Director X asked walking into Puck's room.

"I," Puck began to say as a force of gravity pinned him to the wall cutting off his air.

"I think we need to discuss your future here at Department H," Director X said as he entered Puck's room shutting the door behind him.

_**Elsewhere in Department H**_

Heather was almost to the training room when she heard a noise. She turned to see a young girl running down the hall. Heather recognized her as Ghost Girl and she had three other students behind her. Heather recognized their outfits as members of Beta Flight. Heather shouted at them and flew at them blocking off their escape plan.

"What is going on?" Heather asked.

"Heather, we have to get out of here. Something bad is in the basement," Ghost Girl said.

"What are you talking about? Why are you guys not with the rest of Beta Flight?" Heather asked.

"We don't have time," a girl known as Spark said.

"You better make time," Heather glared at the four members of Beta Flight.

"There are rumors of a monster in a secret basement lab. So we went to check it out and we found a secret door. We were almost there when we heard a weird noise and saw a hairy creature. It started to slaughter the other members of Beta Flight that were with us. We were the only ones to get out of there alive," Ghost Girl cried.

"I can't believe Tom, Sally and Monique are dead," the boy Heather knew as Spitfire said.

"Okay, show me where this basement is and I'll check it out. Then I want you all to go to your rooms," Heather said as Lilli began to lead the way.

"We're staying with you. I want payback," the real thin boy known as Mastodon said.

Heather was getting tired of arguing with the kids when they finally came to a hidden door. Heather powered up her suit as she made her way down. She knew the kids were right behind her but she didn't have time to argue. She could hear something below the steps and she had to check it out. Soon she found herself in a hallway that leads towards a door. Along the hallway she could see blood spots. Her stomached turned as Spark's whimpers confirmed who those spots belonged to.

"I want you all to stay right here. You hear anything you run for help," Heather instructed as Ghost Girl nodded.

Heather entered the room and found herself in a large laboratory. She had a feeling some bad things were going on down here. She noticed twelve empty tubes and wondered what had been in them. Her thoughts ended when she saw five figures bound in cages. They were obviously drugged and unconscious. What shocked Heather was that she knew them. Major Mapleleaf, Groundhog, Stitch, Nemessis and Radius were being held prisoner, but to whom?

"Heather, I wish you would never have seen this," a voice said from behind her.

"Doc Brown, how could you? Wait till the Director hears about this," Heather asked as she saw the man walk out of the shadows, blood on his hands and face.

"Oh, you're not going anywhere," Doc Brown growled as his image faded and his true form was revealed.

"Dark Beast!" Heather screamed as the creature leapt at her with great speed.

_**Team Alpha Headquarters**_

"Zuzha, how could you do this to me and your father?" Mac said stepping into the room.

Rebound jumped with a start. She could have sworn that she had been alone. Now, standing in the doorway was Protector and Commander. She looked around and saw no way out but through them. She looked at Protector and then at the device in her hand. She knew what she had to do, but hated it just the same.

"I'm sorry, James, but I have to do this," Rebound said.

"Why? Is the Director blackmailing you?" James asked

"Does it matter? She's a traitor and should be dealt with," Commander said.

"Wait, Kara. Zuzha, is Director X blackmailing you? We can help you, you don't have to do this," Protector said moving slowly towards Rebound.

"Stop where you are. It doesn't matter what you think, but I have to do this," Rebound said thinking of her father. The Director had made promises that if she did as he asked her father would remain safe and he would bring her mother back.

"Zuzha, please," Protector said and then made his move. A powerful blast destroyed the devise and Commander quickly had Rebound pinned down.

"It's over," Commander laughed.

"Yes, for you," Rebound said as she muttered a few words they recognized as magical.

In a burst of flame Rebound vanished as the ground began to shake. Through his visor he could see great heat signatures forming and preparing to burst through the ground. Protector hit a few buttons setting off the emergency evacuation alarm.

"Team Alpha, get out now," Protector screamed into his com as his vision went red as his headquarters and the surrounding ten mile radius exploded in flames as a red beam of fire projected up into the heavens.

**Next: Read Demon Storm #1 – Demon Storm – Part One**

**Then be back here for Issue #13 – Demon Storm – Part Six**


	14. Demon Storm Part Six

**Alpha Squads**

**Issue #13 – Demon Storm – Part Six**

._**Beam of Fire, Canada – Former Headquarters of Team Alpha**_

The beam of fire shot up into the great Canadian sky turning it red upon contact. All over Canada the news reported the beam as mysterious phenomenon. Once the sky turned red and reports of beams all over the world were popping up, many feared the end of the world was near. To all the Canadians, they just didn't know what had caused this beam of fire. What they also didn't know, was that in the center of the beam was where the secret headquarters of Team Alpha used to be.

Just on the northeast side of the beam, millions of little lights appeared and began to dance and flicker intensely. After a few seconds, the little lights began to merge and become more solid and stable. After another few seconds, the solid light began to take shape. With the same speed that they had appeared the light vanished leaving to figures standing in its place. Protector and Commander shook off the effects of the teleporters and turned to face the beam of fire.

"What did she do?" Commander asked looking up to the red sky.

"I don't know, I'm just glad we activated the emergency teleporters in time," Protector said as he glanced at Kara.

"You think the others made it out in time, besides that traitor Rebound?" Kara asked looking around.

"I hope so. Even though it's no excuse, I think Rebound had her reason for doing what she did and that reason is Director X," Mac said using his visor to scan for life forms.

"Are we going for payback?" Kara asked.

"Yes, if he is behind this than Heather and the others are not safe," Mac said as he saw something.

James flew around the perimeter of the beam with Commander in pursuit. As they rounded the bend, they saw Snowbird sitting on the ground cradling Silver. They both landed and approached the two members of Team Alpha. Narya looked up and smiled when she saw James and Kara.

"Is she okay?" James asked.

"Yes and no," Narya said.

"What happened to her? How did you two get out?" Kara asked.

"I was already out when you had set off the alarm. I had sensed the evil and foresaw the fire so I fled. I also foresaw the five of us standing here so I knew it was okay to flee," Snowbird said.

"Then what happened to them?" Protector said touching Silver's face.

"This is what I saw and was told by Jimon. I sat on the tree as a bird waiting when Silver teleported outside. Unfortunately she was not far enough out when the fire erupted. At the last second, Hedison forced himself to take control and was consumed by the fire. He scarified his life so she would live," Snowbird said as she continued to rock a crying Silver.

"If Hedison died then how is she here?" Kara asked.

"Like with the death of Auric, the body died but then reformed with the other. Before he died he made Jimon aware and to prepare. Not to make his sacrifice in vain, she ignited her powers instantly and formed an ice shield around her self. It took al she had to hold it up till she moved a few feet more and cleared the beam," Narya said finishing her narration.

"Oh, Jimon," James whispered.

"Once again, I'm all alone. I feel so empty," Jimon cried as James helped her to her feet.

"It'll be okay," James said to Silver.

"Wait, if you said we all make it then where's Switch?" Kara asked as her helmet retracted revealing her purple face.

"Right here," the woman in blue leather said running up to them from behind.

"Glad to see you made it out safely," James said to Switch as she stepped up to them.

"Yes," was all Switch said as she tried to suppress the memory of hearing the alarm, looking out her window and then finding herself standing in a tree house next to a very powerful telescope.

"What caused this?" Silver asked.

"It was Rebound," Commander said.

"Then she must pay," Switch said.

"Hold off, I believe that she was forced by the Director. I got the feeling she was being blackmailed," Protector said.

"Either way, we have to go after her," Snowbird said.

"Yes, it's time we head to Department H and have a chat with the good Director," Protector said as he rounded up his team.

_**Department H – Secret Laboratory of Dark Beast**_

Heather saw Dark Beast coming at her with great speed. She powered up her suit but knew she wouldn't be fast enough. She prepared for the impact but was surprised when it didn't come. Her skin tingled as she looked over to see Dark Beast against the wall with smoke and burnt hair coming from him. Heather glanced over and saw Spark and the rest of Beta Flight standing in the doorway.

"Thanks, Marie," Heather said to the girl known as Spark. "Now you four get the others out of those cages while I finish him off."

Heather turned and saw Dark Beast getting to his feet. She quickly fired off dozens of blasts, hitting the creature and forcing him to stay down. She looked and saw a small form go large instantly. The giant, hairy and muscular form of Mastodon lifted the Dark Beast with one arm while placing him in a cell and crushing the door permanently shut. He turned and smile at Heather as he became the scrawny, smooth, blond teen that he was.

"Way to go Mark," Lilli cheered.

"Quite the young team you got here, Heather," Groundhog said as he and Switch walked up to her.

"Long time, Sean, Jodi. What is going on here? This creature shredded the rest of their team," Heather said.

"Actually, it was one of his experiments that got lose but Dark Beast put it down," Jodi said.

"Where are we?" Nemessis asked as she helped Radius drag Major Mapleleaf out of his cell.

"It appears to be a secret lab underneath Department H," Heather said as she looked around.

"Department H? What are you guys running here?" Sean asked growing angry.

"Trust me, I didn't know this was down here," Heather said as she gave them a recap of the New Department H and Alpha Flight. She also told him of Team Alpha when he asked about Mac.

"Well, what ever is going on with this Director, we found my brother down here along with a bunch of others. Dark Beast called them Zodiac before they captured us," Radius said as they told Heather of their mission.

"Are you sure? The Director just introduced your brother and all the others to us not too long ago as the new Z Flight team," Heather said very puzzled.

"You silly people, you have no idea what your Director really is or what's going on right under your own noses," Dark Beast laughed.

"You better tell us what you know. What did you do to my brother?" Radius shouted.

"I was on the run from Genosha when I ran into the Director. We made a deal, he provided me with subjects while I experimented on them in return for creating his new army. I don't know anything else and I don't care to," the Dark Beast laughed.

"I need to talk to Eugene and then pay our Director a visit," Heather said as she moved toward the steps.

"What do we do with him?" Jodi asked nodding at the Dark Beast.

"Kill the creature," Nemessis snarled.

"No, we don't resort to their level," Heather declared.

"Glad to see some things haven't changed," Sean smiled.

"We'll leave him here. He isn't going anywhere. Lilli, you and the rest of Beta Flight get Lou upstairs to the Med Center and call Diamond Lil. Tell her what's going on and stay with her. The rest of you," Heather said starting to give out orders.

"Are coming with you," Radius said.

"But," Heather started to say.

"But nothing. Something big is going on here and we're coming with you," Groundhog said as Heather nodded and they headed off to look for Puck.

_**Department H – Puck's Room**_

"I knew you were up to no good," Eugene swore at Director X.

Eugene for months has had suspicions and was acting as the eyes and ears for his old friend James "Mac" Hudson. What got him in trouble was when he discovered that was a traitor on Team Alpha and it was his daughter, Rebound. Moments after warning Mac, the Director had walked in and pinned him against the wall with some kind of power. Puck, unable to move awaited his fate.

"Yes, and I knew you were just as trust worthy," Director X laughed.

"Then why invite me to join Alpha Flight?" Puck asked.

"I knew it was a risk, but it allowed me to keep you here under my thumb while I used your daughter," Director X laughed as he flicked his wrist causing Puck to hit the ceiling and then the floor hard before being pinned back up against the wall.

"What have you done to my daughter?" Puck shouted.

"I've done nothing, except convince her to kill Team Alpha," Director X laughed.

"She would never do that. You're full of lies," Puck shouted.

"Oh, am I?" Director X smiled as he pushed a remote that lowered a screen and switched it on.

"…out of nowhere this beam of fire has erupted from the ground and has ignited the sky red. Canada is not the only location affected by this phenomenon. Reports form all over the world show these beams of fire appearing resulting in a massive number of deaths. It has not been confirmed if anyone had died from the beam here in Canada…" the television reported as the Director smiled and then shut it off.

"Recognize the location?" The Director laughed.

"It can't be," Pucks whispered.

"Why yes, it is. I believe that is the location of where Team Alpha's headquarters are, or should I say used to be?" The Director laughed.

"You killed them you monster," Puck shouted with tears forming in his eyes.

"No, your daughter did. Just as I'm going to kill you know," Director X smiled.

"No, you promised if I did what you asked you wouldn't hurt him," Rebound said breaking down the door.

"Stay out of this, Zuzha or you know what will happen," Director X said using his other hand to pin Rebound to the other wall.

"Why did you do it?" Puck pleaded as his daughter.

"I had no choice. He said he would kill you," Rebound said.

"Zuzha, you shouldn't have," Puck began to say to his daughter.

"It's not that, he said he knows who my mom is and would have her killed if I didn't do it," Zuzha said showing tears for the first time.

"You're mom?" Puck asked growing quit, fully understanding where this man had placed his daughter.

"All mute now, I'm just going to kill the whole family," Director X said as he tightened his hold on the two.

"It seems Mac was right about you," Vindicator shouted as she sent a blast into the Director's back sending him into the wall, releasing Puck and Rebound.

"Heather?" Puck asked as he saw Vindicator step into his room followed by Radius, Nemessis and what appeared to be old First Flight members, Groundhog and Stitch.

"It seems our good Director here kidnapped the members of Z Flight and had Doc Brown, AKA Dark Beast experiment on them," Heather said as she filled in Puck on what had happened down in the secret lab.

"I thought they looked a bit robotic. It's not all he's been up to. Mac's dead," Puck said as he told them what he had found out about Director X, his daughter, the beam of fire and Team Alpha.

"Mac, no," Vindicator said trying to control her tears.

"You fools, you have no idea what you're about to face," Director X laughed as he stood up and screamed.

They stood there as the man known as Director X began to change form. In a matter of seconds Director X had transformed into some kind of demon. He had sprouted giant wings and his skin had turned red. His eyes and finger nails burned with fire. With a trust of his hands and a loud roar power erupted from hi causing the wall and ceiling behind him to explode. When the dust cleared Heather could see outside and the dreadful red sky and falling fire in the distance.

"I'm getting too old for this," Groundhog said squeezing his wife's arm.

"What are you?" Vindicator asked as Puck got to his feet and helped his daughter up.

"Department H was a nice hiding place for me, but the time has come. I, Zorak one of the Horsemen of Hell shall kill you all and to pave the way for the coming of Semaj and his Demon Storm," Zorak laughed with a voice that shook what was left of this side of Department H.

"What is going on here?" Feedback asked as he and Epsilon Flight came swarming from above on jetpacks as the alarms began to sound.

"Our Director is a Demon in disguise," Puck shouted up to the leader of Epsilon Flight.

"Good, my forces are here," Zorak said sending off a wave of fire from his hands.

Feedback shifted just in time to avoid the blast but the rest of Epsilon Flight was caught by the fire. When the fire cleared they noticed that the members of Epsilon Flight had not been killed but transformed into winged demons. Heather was ready to call those around her into action when she caught sight of some familiar faces. Guardian, Aurora and Earthmover came flying up behind the Horseman of Hell.

"Reinforcements!" Radius shouted.

Heather was about to speak when the next event left her speechless. Two powers blast hit Aurora and Earthmover sending them to the ground really hard. Heather paused as twelve figures advanced upon Guardian. Heather saw it was Z Flight and she took flight to Guardian's defense.

"James, Director X is a demon and Z Flight isn't what they seem to be," Vindicator said as she reached Guardian's side.

"No kidding," Guardian said as his left arm became a cybernetic blade and he stabbed her in the side.

"What?" Heather gasped as he held her wound and slowly descended to the ground below.

"Glad to see General Cybok and Hell's Zodiac could make it," Zorak laughed as Guardian reverted to his true form, half robot, half demon.

"Finally I can quit pretending to be that stupid clone. Zodiac attack!" General Cybok commanded as the twelve members of Z Flight's stone began to glow and they too began to transform into something else.

"Heather!" Puck screamed as he leapt for his falling friend.

Groundhog and the others watched in shock at what they had just witnessed. Radius screamed his brother's name as he saw him and the others transform. Their costumes stayed the same and the stones remained in their foreheads but their bodies changed. Their skin turned red and took on various shapes.

Northstar had the head of a demon-like goat with flaming horns. Plato's skin now looked like red water that was on fire. Windshear had the head of a demon-like ram with horns of fire. Double Trouble now merged into one being with two heads, four arms and legs. Wild Child had the head of a demon-like lion. Highbrow's head and arms looked like a fiery scale. Marrina's head shifted to a more fish-like form.

Killspree's right arm became an arrow while his left arm became a bow as fire danced in his eyes. Wyre grew a large tail with a pointer on the end has his hands became pinchers. Apeman now had the head of a demon-like bull while Radius screamed at what had become of Murmur and his brother.

Murmur may have had red skin but her body burned with pure white fire. As evil as she was now, she projected a vibe and aura of pure innocence. His brother, Flex now had the head of a demon-like crab and his hands had become giant claws. Radius only had a moment to take this in as Hell's Zodiac charged at them with murder in their fiery eyes.

**Next: Issue #14 – Demon Storm – Part Fourteen – Final battle with Zorak and the final issue**

**Check out the following issues as the other Horsemen of Hell make their move:**

**Salem-X #17 & 18 – Demon Storm Part Ten**

**New Exiles #16 & 17 – Demon Storm Part Three & Eleven**

**Power Pack #13 & 14 – Demon Storm Part Four & Twelve**

**Wild Pack #13 & 14 – Demon Storm Part Five & Thirteen (Final Issue)**

**Alpha Squads #13 & 14 – Demon Storm Part Six & Fourteen (Final Issue)**

**Mutant Generation Force #14 & 15 – Demon Storm Part Seven & Fifteen**

**X-Calibur # 13 & 14 – Demon Storm Part Eight & Sixteen**

**Sensational X-Men # 13 & 14 – Demon Storm Part Nine & Seventeen**

**Then Read: Demon Storm #2 – Demon Storm – Part Eighteen – The Conclusion **


	15. Demon Storm Part Fourteen

**Alpha Squads**

**Issue #14 – Demon Storm – Part Fourteen**

_**Department H**_

Everything had gone from bad to worse in a matter of seconds. Puck's friend, Mac, had suspected that Director X was up to no good and was up to something evil at Department H, but he had no idea how right he was and that it was worse than either of them had suspected. Puck had remained behind on Alpha Flight to keep an eye on things and discovered more than he had bargained for. The Director using him and Rebound's mom as leverage to get her to betray and kill Team Alpha was only the beginning.

The Director had also authorized the kidnapping of twelve beings that had been associated with Department H and the Flight programs to be experimented on by the Dark Beast who was posing as Doc Brown. The Dark Beast had experimented on them and made them into the mind controlled team known as Z Flight. To top it off, the Director in turn transformed them and members of Epsilon flight into demons. That wasn't even the tip of the iceberg, the Director's secret was far bigger than he had imagined.

It turned out that the Director was actually a demon called Zorak in disguise. Zorak was a Horseman of Hell and the beam of fire that killed Team Alpha was part of a world wide plan to bring about some thing called Semaj and a Demon Storm. So now Puck, joined by his daughter Rebound, Vindicator, Feedback, Groundhog, Stitch, Nemessis and Radius stood ready to battle the demon and his forces. They had Aurora, Earthmover and Guardian join them but Hell's Zodiac had blasted Earthmover and Aurora sending them to the ground while Vindicator flew to help Guardian to only be taken by surprise.

Turns out that Guardian, who they had always known was the clone of James Hudson, was a demon in disguise too. Guardian revealed his true form of a cyborg demon called General Cybok. While revealing his true form he had run a blade into Heather's side. Wounded, Heather began to plummet to the ground below. Without thinking, Puck leapt from the building in an attempt to save his dear friend. He had caught his friend and wondered what now, as he fell to the ground below as the Horseman of Hell and his minions attacked the others. As he had thought, things had just gotten worse.

"I have you," Aurora said as she flew up catching the two and guiding them back to the ground.

"Thanks, Jeanie," Puck said as he placed Heather gently on the ground.

"They will pay for what they did to me and my brother," Aurora said as she took flight towards the battle.

"We need to help them," Heather said as she winced from the pain coming from her wound.

"We need to get you medical attention. That cut looks bad," Puck said giving his friend a worried smile.

"Allow me," Earthmover said as he ran up to them.

Earthmover reached into his magic pouch and pulled out a tube of powder. He uncorked it and poured the powder on Heather's wound as she winced with the sudden burning. The powder flashed and sparked as it hit the wound. In a matter of seconds, the powder was gone and the wound was sealed. Earthmover and Puck helped Heather to her feet as she investigated the wound.

"Nice work, Chuck," Vindicator said.

"It will take time to fully heal but for now it is sealed and will not cause you any more pain," Earthmover said.

"Good enough for me. Shall we go join the party?" Heather asked as she took flight into the air with Earthmover and Puck running not too far behind her.

"There's too many," Feedback said as he sent as many of his bio-energy bolts at the demons who had once been part of Epsilon Flight.

Feedback was doing what he could. While what was left of Alpha Flight battled Zorak, General Cybok and their demon created Zodiac, Feedback had called in every last member of Epsilon Flight to join him to hold off their demon converted brethren. He may not be fighting the main fight, but if he and his team can keep the minor demons at bay it would be one less thing they have to worry about and can focus on the Horseman of Hell. At his command, Feedback led Epsilon Flight against the Demon Epsilon Flight.

"Okay, how do we stop all them?" Stitch asked her husband as Zodiac arrived.

"We," Groundhog began to say when the unexpected interrupted him.

First Aurora and Earthmover had been blasted down to the ground. Then, as Vindicator went to join Guardian, the clone of Hudson revealed himself as the demon cyborg calling himself General Cybok. The imposter stabbed Heather and Puck leapt after her as she fell to the ground wounded. Finally, Zorak, the demon once known as Director X, floated in the background laughing as Cybok and Hell's Zodiac came directly at them. Groundhog looked at his wife and the small team of Nemessis, Radius and Rebound standing behind him.

"Let's kill these demons. I want payback for what they made me do," Rebound said punching her fist in her hands.

"I don't know what the Director did to you, but killing is not an option. Some of those demons are our friends and loved ones," Radius said thinking of his brother and Arlette.

"I agree, let's take them down as best we can without lethal means," Groundhog said as he powered up his suit and flew right at the incoming force.

"I'll do my best but no promises," Rebound said as she ran and hit the wall bouncing off of it and propelling herself at the enemy with high speed.

"What good can we do?" Stitch asked Radius as Nemessis took flight.

"Just use what you got and do your best," Radius said knowing that his shielding powers and her controlling small metal objects didn't make them power hitters.

Sagittarius, the man once known as Killspree landed in front of Stitch. He placed hit left arm next to his right arm and fired off an arrow glowing with fire. Stitch dodged the arrow as it exploded behind her and a new arrow reformed on his hand. As he aimed the sun reflected off the tip of the arrow. In that moment, Stitch knew what she could do as she called on her powers. As Sagittarius released the arrow, a force grabbed it, flipped it around and jammed it right back up his arms.

As Sagittarius screamed in pain, Stitch quickly looked around the room. In the corner near a damaged desk was a box of staples. Calling on her powers, Stitch sent hundreds of staples at Sagittarius implanting them in his face. Clearly off balance, Jodi grabbed a piece of wall from the ground and threw it at the demon. It hit him and sent him over the edge. She knew the fall wouldn't be fatal to the demon, but honestly, she didn't have time to care for there were more enemies to worry about.

Radius turned to face the demon crab known as Cancer. It was hard for him to see his brother Adrian like this. If he hadn't seen the transformation he would have never known that this creature with the head of a demon crab and claws for hands was his brother. Cancer slashed out with his claws but was unable to make contact through Radius' shield. Radius did a leg sweep and knocked what used to be his brother on his back. He had to find a way to take out his brother without hurting him.

He had found a new way to use his powers and decided to push it a little further. While Cancer was on the ground he pushed his field to reach out and cover the crab's head. He then held it around the head and sealed it tight making it so air could barely get through. It was just enough to cause Cancer to black out. Jared called off his powers and went to tend to his brother when suddenly he couldn't move. No matter how hard he tried, he was not in control of his motor functions. He was suddenly forced to turn around and come face to face with his controller.

Virgo, the woman he had once known as Arlette stood there smiling. White fire poured off her red demon skin. He realized that the white fire was surrounding him. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't move or summon his powers. He was completely in her control. Virgo moved towards him and he could feel her using her body to make him want to do what ever she wanted him to do. He felt the urge to jump from the edge.

"Back away," Nemessis yelled as she swung her mystical sword at Virgo slicing it right through her body.

"Nemesis, what are you doing?" Radius screamed as the power over him faded as Virgo screamed in pain.

"Don't worry, my sword doesn't kill. Watch," Nemessis said.

Radius watched as the demon was literally ripped form Arlette's body. Somehow Nemessis' sword had broken the spell and was absorbing the demon magic into itself releasing the body back to the host. Radius ran and held Arlette's body as he heard his brothers cry. He turned to see his brother, like Arlette, revert back to normal as the sword absorbed the demon. He looked at Arlette and then went to his brother's side.

"Their pulses are weak. Will they be okay?" Radius asked as he checked the pulse of his unconscious brother.

"I don't know. All I know is that my sword turns them back to normal, but it's a painful process and I don't know if any of their bodies can take it. It's a risk we need to take to turn them all back to normal and prevent them from killing us," Nemessis said.

"I know, I'll watch over them while you go change back the others," Radius said as Nemesis took flight.

Groundhog hovered in the air as Capricorn, Aquarius, Aries, Gemini, Leo, Libra, Pisces, Scorpio and Taurus surrounded him. As he looked at these demon warped version of Zodiac all around him he knew it was definitely too old for this. Not only had they been enhanced with these mystical stones, but they were then enhanced with demon magic as well. There was no way he would be able to take them all down by himself.

"Slowing down old man?" Vindicator asked as she sent off blasts at the Zodiac members.

"Leave my brother to me," Aurora said as flew at Capricorn and hitting him with a blast of light.

"Can't have all the fun," Puck said as he leapt and slammed into Leo, the Alphan once known as Wild Child.

"Right behind you, dad," Rebound said as she flew at high speed slamming into Pisces, the Alphan once called Marina.

"Look's like the playing field as leveled a bit," Groundhog said as Earthmover caused an explosion with his pouch drawing the attention of Gemini and Taurus or Double Trouble and Ape Man. "And, I'm not old."

"Whatever," Vindicator laughed as she sent blasts off near Libra and Aries, both known to her well as Highbrow and Windshear leaving Groundhog with Scorpio and Aquarius or Wyre and Plato.

Groundhog dodged as Scorpio attacked with his demon tail but wasn't so lucky when Aquarius doused him in burning water. Both Zodiac members advanced on him and he was sure this was it when both demons screamed. He opened his eyes as the water vanished and he saw Nemessis standing over the bodies of Wyre and Plato. Her sword seemed to be absorbing the fiery energy coming from the Zodiac members.

"It appears my sword changes them back," Nemessis said as she took flight and headed for more.

It didn't take long before all members of Zodiac had been taken down and converted back. Once they had been changed they had to be left for now. Vindicator and the rest knew that they would have to hope for the best until they took care of Zorak and General Cybok. Zorak advanced on the members of Alpha Flight while Cybok stepped in to face Vindicator.

"I've been looking so forward to this," General Cybok said.

"So, you've been posing as Guardian all this time?" Vindicator said firing a blast at the General.

"No, the clone was real. When Zorak, posing as Director X summoned everyone, the clone Guardian was the first to respond. I killed him right away and used my abilities as a cyborg and demon to take his appearance and pose as him. Thanks to my cybernetics I was able to retract and absorb his memories," General Cybok laughed as he fired a fiery blast from his cybernetic arm.

"Well, it's over now. I'm taking you down," Vindicator said dodging the blasts and firing off a few of her own at the half demon.

"I will enjoy beating you down like I did your boyfriend Mac when I took the Guardian suit from him," General Cybok laughed.

"You lie, James would have told me if you had done that," Vindicator said trying to convince herself.

"Oh, I told him that if he even breathed a whisper to you I would kill you. That pathetic, lovesick fool," General Cybok laughed as his arm became a machine gun and he fired of fiery rounds.

A few of the rounds made contact but the armor within the suit protected Heather from the blunt of the impacts. Vindicator mustered up as much power as she could and fired off a blast that sent General Cybok smashing into the side of the Department H headquarters. She then fired off a few more blasts causing the wall above the demon to shatter and pile on top of the cyborg. Vindicator turned to see how her comrades were faring.

Zorak laughed as the so called Alphans came at him. He was irritated that his Zodiac had been defeated so easily, but they were only a means of distraction. He had never really counted on them being a success just a way to help weaken his prey. As the attackers neared him, he called on his powers and sent a wave of fire out. The force caught all of them and pinned all of them to the ground below as the Department H headquarters collapsed in on itself from the force of the wave's gravity.

"Oh my God! There were people, students still in there," Vindicator cried out at the sight of the fallen headquarters.

"IT IS TIME!" A voice boomed from the pits of hell.

"As you wish, master," Zorak said as a magical wave shot from his body.

"I offer this soul to you, Semaj. All hail the Storm," Zorak said as he completed the spell.

"What is going on? I can't move," Puck said.

"I don't know, but I don't like it," Groundhog answered.

In a flash of fiery light, Aurora was encased in a fiery cocoon and shot off into the sky.

"Aurora, where did you send her?" Vindicator shouted at the Horseman of Hell.

"I sent her to New York to be given up as a sacrifice to open the gates for Semaj to come through. Now I will kill you all," Zorak said as he began to form large balls of fire in his hands.

"That can't be good. I'm so sorry for what I did," Rebound said looking over at her dad.

"Don't worry, well get out of this, save Aurora and stop this Demon Storm and then we can deal with what happened with you," Puck said still trying to move.

"It's the end for you," Zorak said as he released his power.

Just as the fire reached them it froze solid in place. The Horseman and the Alphans all turned to see what had stopped the fire. Coming straight at them was a giant white owl, Protector carrying a woman in blue leather, a man in purple armor and Silver, who had been responsible for the flash freeze. Puck, Vindicator and everyone else, including Rebound was glad to see Team Alpha alive and well. Protector shouted out some commands and they went into action.

"What you got going on here, Heather?" Protector shouted.

"That ugly demon is Director X and he just sent Aurora off to be sacrificed. I'll fill you in later, just take him out and get us free," Vindicator shouted back struggling to move.

"Enough said. Commander, now!" Protector shouted.

"Fire your most deathly blast at us," Commander said as she sent off a bunch of discs from her suit that landed on Zorak and ignited with Kara's command power.

"With pleasure," Zorak said as he sent of a blast of powerful white fire.

"Your turn," Protector said as he threw Switch into the blasts direct path as Jodi screamed at the sight.

Switch screamed making Zorak look right at her. At the moment their eyes locked she called forth her powers. In an instant, Switch was gone and replaced by Zorak. Zorak turned in confusion as he took the full brunt of his own blast. His scream could be heard as he exploded in a ball of fire upon impact. When the smoke cleared, only ashes remained as they gently rained down upon the ground. With Zorak's death, everyone was now free to get up.

"Oh, Mac, am I ever glad to see you. We thought you were all dead," Vindicator said running up to him and hugging him as he relayed their escape from the beam.

"What's going on here?" Protector asked as Heather, Sean and Eugene filled him in.

"It seems Guardian wasn't the only evil traitor," Switch said as she moved near Rebound.

"Back off. She did what she did to protect her parents," Puck said stepping in the lady in blue's path.

"You won't touch my child, Eugene," Jodi said stepping near Puck as everyone looked at Switch and back to Stitch in surprise at the new revelation.

"That's enough everyone," Sean said stepping up to his wife and step-daughter.

"I agree. If Puck still trusts her, then for now we all will trust her. We have too much to deal with right now. Something big is happening in New York and we need to stop it and save Aurora," Protector said.

"I agree, but what about this," Vindicator said as she pointed out the collapsed headquarters and bodies lying all around.

"Feedback, I want you to radio for help. You and all your Epsilon Guards will work with the authorities to dig through the rubble and look for survivors and help with the injured," Protector said.

"I will stay behind and help with the efforts. I'll do more good here," Jodi said.

"I agree and I want Snowbird and Radius to stay behind as well. Their sensing powers and shield powers will come in handy," Protector said. "I know the situation here is critical, but what is going down in New York might spell the end of the world and I need to be there."

"I'm coming with you. Department H as well as both Alpha teams is finished, but I think this is one ending where we can work together as one and stop this menace," Heather said looking at James who smiled and nodded.

"We better get going," Sean said as Jodi gasped.

"Not this time, old friend. I need you here to help Jodi pick up what pieces may be left here," James said to Sean.

"Okay, but you bring our girl back," Sean said shaking his hand as he saw Switch move away from her mother and head toward the group leaving for New York.

Sean and his wife waved and wished them luck as Protector, Silver, Switch, Commander, Rebound, Nemessis, Vindicator, Puck and Earthmover took flight into the air and headed off to face the Storm. Sean wasn't sure if he would ever see them again but he wished them the best. For now, he hugged his wife as they, along with Snowbird, Radius, Feedback and all of Epsilon Flight turned to face the end and ruins of Department H and try and salvage what might be left.

**The End… for now!**

**Thank you all for reading and following the adventures of both Team Alpha and Alpha Flight. Never fear, keep your eyes out for Alpha Prime #1, an all new ongoing series coming soon….that is if anyone survives the Demon Storm!!!**

**Check out the following issues for the final battles with the other Horsemen of Hell:**

**Salem-X #18 – Demon Storm Part Ten**

**New Exiles #17 – Demon Storm Part Eleven**

**Power Pack #14 – Demon Storm Part Twelve**

**Wild Pack #14 – Demon Storm Part Thirteen (Final Issue)**

**Alpha Squads #14 – Demon Storm Part Fourteen (Final Issue)**

**Mutant Generation Force #15 – Demon Storm Part Fifteen**

**X-Calibur #14 – Demon Storm Part Sixteen**

**Sensational X-Men #14 – Demon Storm Part Seventeen**

**Then Read: Demon Storm #2 – Demon Storm – Part Eighteen – The Conclusion **


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